The Australian neighbourhood land-use profile dataset

The land-use profile surrounding a neighbourhood is a determinant of health and associated with socioeconomic outcomes. In Australia, there is no national publicly available dataset detailing the land-use profile surrounding residential neighbourhoods. Using PostGIS a centroid was placed in every Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defined Mesh Block (MB) – the smallest geographical structure in Australian geography which details the category of land-use (i.e. residential, parkland, commercial, industrial etc.) and population. Each MB was assigned a remoteness classification and socioeconomic status, as defined by the ABS. After a buffer based on a radius of 400 metres, 1-kilometre, 2-kilometres, and 5-kilometres was calculated around each centroid, the square metre of, and the percentage of the buffer covered by, each land-use category was calculated. This dataset will support the decisions of urban planners, diverse government departments, researchers and those involved in public and environmental health.