The GFDRR Urban Data Tracker is an open tool supporting the creation of a data commons for urban data. It provides a structured way to collate, catalogue, and track the availability of urban datasets for cities around the world.

Background and Purpose

The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is working to improve access to high-quality, reusable data that supports urban resilience, risk-informed decision-making, and sustainable development. Urban data is often fragmented across institutions, projects, and platforms, making it difficult to understand what data exists, where it can be accessed, and how it can be reused.

The GFDRR Urban Data Tracker is an important step toward addressing this challenge by providing a single reference point for recording the availability of urban datasets at the city level. Rather than hosting the data itself, the tracker focuses on documenting and organising information about available datasets, with links back to the original source.

Programme and Project Context

The GFDRR Urban Data Tracker is developed as part of the GFDRR Digital Earth Program and the Risk Data Library project. Together, these initiatives aim to improve access to risk-related and geospatial data that supports disaster risk management and sustainable urban development. Development of this tool is supported through funding from the Gates Foundation.

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What the Tracker Does

The tracker enables users to:

  • View which urban datasets exist for a given city
  • Understand the types of data are available (for example: environmental, hazards and risk, transport, population)
  • See basic metadata about each dataset, and link to the original source
  • Identify gaps where critical urban data may be missing

Beta Version and Current Scope

This platform is currently in beta. At this stage, minimal metadata is collected for each dataset, with the primary goal of mapping what data exists rather than providing comprehensive documentation. The structure and functionality of the tracker will continue to evolve based on user feedback and data availability including through a series of data sprints in 2026.

Feedback and Next Steps

As a beta platform, feedback is encouraged and essential to shaping future development. Insights on additional data types, metadata needs, usability improvements, and city coverage will help strengthen the GFDRR Urban Data Tracker over time. Feedback can be provided on GitHub.