Network Building to Address Future Challenges for Urban Observatories

The continued popularity and rate of establishment of new urban observatories is testament to their important role in understanding and addressing pressing social and environmental challenges. This networking session creates a space to share experiences and insights and build capacity in our collective ability to take local action for sustainable cities and communities, with a focus on ‘urban observatories’ as a common form of urban knowledge institution. As well as the many representatives from existing and aspiring observatories present at WUF 12, this event will be attractive to those working in cities and national governments, academia and other institutions interested in learning more about the urban observatory model and its value in data-informed policy making and actions. It is convened by representatives of urban observatories that are part of the Global Urban Observatory Network (GUO-Net) coordinated by UN-Habitat and features contributions from the diverse voices from across GUO-Net.

‘Urban observatories, and related research organisations that work across policymaking and academia, are increasingly flagged as critical in achieving sustainable urban development – particularly at the local level. To address the challenges of urbanization and set a course for more sustainable and equitable urban development in future, we need a detailed and robust understanding of how our urban areas have developed and currently function. Observatories play an important role in enhancing data availability and data-driven decision making, creating diverse and nuanced datasets that enable cities to better understand themselves and direct their development priorities. These roles place observatories at the centre of the localization debate.

This networking session builds upon the annual GUO-Net experiences sharing workshops, and will create a platform for observatories to deliberate on the key local urbanization trends, share new methods and tools for addressing challenges emerging at the local level, showcase the operations and functions of the urban observatory model and its usefulness at different levels, and develop opportunities for partnerships among existing and potential observatories. It will also focus on nuanced challenges in operationalization of urban observatories; how observatories can further contribute to emerging data frameworks including the SDGs and NUA, engage with complex policy dynamics and priorities, work in challenging boundary contexts between research and policy making and play active roles in multi-scalar governance and be constituted and operated as decolonised institutions to achieve truly transformative change in the urban setting. In summary: promoting the value of the observatory model as a solution to current urban issues.