259R_Lessons from nine urban areas using data to drive local sustainable development (research summary)

What is The Future for Cities?

Are you interested in data-driven local sustainable development?

Summary of the article titled Lessons from nine urban areas using data to drive local sustainable development from 2022 by Garima Jain and Jessica Espey, published in Nature Urban Sustainability journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Dr Haydn Reed in episode 260 talking about urban data use for better urban outcomes.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how data-driven urban governance can help cities in their sustainability journey. This article presents the data use opportunities despite its challenges of data availability or capacity, among others.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. Making data accessible and engaging through various communication methods is essential for transparency and effective decision-making, though it requires overcoming significant technical and legal barriers.
2. Using data to adapt the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to local priorities is crucial for fostering political buy-in and effective governance, as demonstrated by cities like Patiala and New York City.
3. Integrating local data with national monitoring systems is difficult due to varying resources and methodologies, but cities like those in Colombia and Brazil have developed innovative frameworks to address these challenges.

You can find article through this link.

Abstract: Cities are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet many remain disengaged from the process. This paper examines nine city and subnational pilot projects conducted between 2015 and 2019, to assess the role of a data-based approach to governance in improving decision-making for sustainable development. We consider to what extent a data-based approach to governance can help cities in (a) localizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs); (b) integrating national and local datasets; (c) increasing openness of data and enabling better accountability for outcomes; and (d) encouraging innovation in data gathering. We find that data is considered a useful entry point for local sustainable development conversations and employing a focus on data management is welcomed by nearly all local governments, however, few localities explicitly focus on data to improve their sustainable development outcomes. Critically, despite the excitement around big data, most cities are unable to access them due to capacity challenges, data ownership, and privacy concerns.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.005R - Smart cities, big data and urban policy: Towards urban analytics for the long run
• No.132 - Interview with Michael Batty, the father of urban data management
• No.247R - Data-driven urban management: Mapping the landscape

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠showno⁠t⁠es⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

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