Cities today face a complex set of sustainable development challenges. They must expand services for residents, drive national economies and adapt to the climate crisis, all while incorporating more residents each day and amid economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, the data revolution is vastly expanding the information available to decision-makers and the public alike. Yet discerning insights from noise and connecting these insights to the people who need them most remains a challenge, especially for smaller and poorer cities.

Modern data analytics and evidence-based tools can help cities and communities around the world make smarter decisions around resilience and development. WRI addresses the urban data-to-action disconnect at scale through an approach that emphasizes:

  • Relevance: Problem- and user-centered research and design.
  • Scalability: Globally transferable and locally customizable methods.
  • Accessibility: Open data and open-source software.

The Urban Analytics & Data Innovation team brings new analytical resources to cities and works to strengthen understanding of the role of data in informing urban projects and policy.

We provide:

  • Data products: Datasets and analysis methods to make information available to as much of the planet as possible.
  • Insight interfaces and infrastructure: Data visualization and use-case-specific analysis tools to make it easier for decision-makers to derive actionable insights from data.
  • Capacity building, decision support and engagement: Technical assistance, training materials and workshops to help users integrate insights from data into policies and projects.

Through these methods, the Urban Analytics & Data Innovation team supports a range efforts:

Creating Accessible and Actionable Resources

Far too many cities and communities lack access to useful data to inform sustainable development and climate efforts. We aim to help close this gap by developing open-access data resources. From supporting the Deep Dive Cities initiative to Data for Cool Cities, we work to not only democratize access to data, but also transform insights into actions. We provide tailored, individualized support to city and community decision-makers. 

Publishing Original Research

New datasets, as well as methods for analyzing, modeling and presenting data, are essential to understanding the challenges facing cities today. We publish original, data-driven research that illuminates trends and delves deeper into development and climate challenges, from improving service delivery to climate adaptation. Recent research includes a comparison detailing the different futures cities face under 1.5 degrees C of warming versus 3 degrees C of warming; a robust analysis of differences in access to economic opportunities within Mexico’s urban areas; a global geospatial dataset of intra-urban land use; and a global timeseries dataset of changes to urban boundaries and urban land consumption.

Equipping Projects with Data Resources

Across WRI Ross Center’s portfolio of projects, we function as an internal consultancy, developing dashboards and analyses while also offering in-depth trainings on geospatial data and best practices. With the UrbanShift initiative, we supported a series of Geospatial Data Labs across Asia, Africa and Latin America that helped local stakeholders develop proactive policies around green space expansion, transit equity, biodiversity conservation and more. For the Deep Dive Cities initiative, we are helping to better understand the drivers of urban transformation by tracking long-term change in cities where WRI has worked over many years and across multiple sectors.

Cover image by Laurentiu Morariu/Unsplash