Meeting global demand

In the beginning of the 21st century cities seem to be both the problem facing and the key to the world’s development. Furthermore it is in and around cities that socio-economic disparities and environmental distress accumulate and poles of progress and innovation emerge. Therefore, the necessity of city data will increase. Since in the information society age and a globalizing world economy, set in an increasingly urbanising world in which the need for international co-operation between cities will intensify, cities’ information requirements acquire a new dimension: their policy-makers have to compare their chances of sustainable urban development with other cities on a global scale and create development strategies, aided by comparative information and international dialogue.

Given their urgent need, users working with such data in everyday practice find little consolation in the fact that problems facing data comparability are far from being solved. In this situation it is the task of city data producers to generate a living network, not a virtual web but a live international dialogue to enable meeting demand. With LCSP N.U.R.E.C. picked up this task. In cooperation with various global player organisations, including two UN-agencies, N.U.R.E.C. has provided data on approx. 1000 cities based on 12 indicators with a signiticant economic relevance.