Posted on 19 May 2016
Funded by the Research Council UK and Innovate UK Urban Living Partnership scheme, York is one of five cities, along with Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle (including Gateshead), chosen to take part in the initiative.
Led by the University of York’s Environment Department and the Council’s Business Intelligence department, the project will provide an evidence base for the city to meet future environmental challenges. Entirely unique to the UK, it will bring together 23 project partners, including businesses, local government, national agencies and research institutes.
Over the next 18 months the project team will develop an observatory design prototype to be implemented in the next five years.
The project will involve:
Data and results will be of significant benefit to citizens, the research community, city decision makers, national government departments, large and small businesses and future generations of different sectors. Ways in which YCEO data will be used includes:
Professor Alistair Boxall, Project Lead, said: “The RCUK and Innovate UK funding will allow us to lay the groundwork to establish York as a unique and world leading city observatory which will enable us to better understand the importance of environmental quality for the health and wellbeing of people and the economy of cities. This understanding will help us to design and manage cities much more cleverly than we are able to do at the moment.
“York is an ideal city for establishing a whole city observatory of this type. It is not too big, meaning that the observatory is manageable. It is a highly data-rich city that can be modelled in four dimensions. It is also home of a number of exciting relevant initiatives such as the YorkSense monitoring project, the York Open Data Platform and the Digital Creativity Laboratories.”
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for the Environment at City of York Council, said: “We’re delighted to be chosen as one of a handful of cities that will benefit from the Urban Living Partnership. This will enable York to develop a coherent and prioritised list of health, well-being and economic concerns that are potentially linked to the quality of the city environment.
“It also supports the city’s One Planet York campaign, to be a more sustainable and resilient city where we all work together to create healthy and sustainable lives. The YCEO will make a major contribution to this ambition by better understanding the impact natural, social, cultural and built environments have on peoples’ health and wellbeing.”
Information on the progress of the project, as well as engagement events, will be available through the open data site from mid-June onwards.
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