•  
  •  
 

Corresponding Author

Eman Metwally

Subject Area

Architectural Engineering

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Cities are now more than ever seen as crucial to addressing global issues. They have been repeatedly identified as key locations to address the interrelated environmental, health and social issues affecting our increasingly civilized planet. Many global agreements and frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015) and the New Urban Agenda (2016) and developing data and information, have certainly emerged as an increasingly critical element in how we think, experience and ultimately manage cities. We produce more urban data than ever before, through a variety of formal and informal knowledge mobilization channels, but this is not always accessible or aggregated into formats that make it possible to use it. In that sense, urban governance is deeply mired in data, information and knowledge flows, and many see it as increasingly dependent on it. As such, understanding how to develop, produce and mobilize these urban visions is an urgent agenda for those seeking to manage cities around the world. "Urban observatories" have thus emerged as organizations capable of supporting the translation of knowledge between research and decision-making. As a result, the problem of research concerns the need for accurate and up-to-date information on urban indicators, as it is critical for effective management and monitoring. Access to data and knowledge gaps hamper decision makers' access to urban data that reflect the current state of the city and its strengths and weaknesses, thus making incorrect development decisions that do not reflect the real needs of the city. This aims to establish the Urban Observatory, which can fill knowledge gaps in research and decision-making, enable informed decision-making, monitor progress and address access issues. It supports sustainable urban development and improved quality of life, enabling evidence-based policy formulation and overcoming data access challenges.

Keywords

Urban observatory, informed cities, El Tor city

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS