"If knowledge is power, then data is control," wrote Toronto Star columnist Christopher Hume in his most recent article.

Hume's piece featured the University of Toronto's new Global Cities Institute, a world leading research centre for urban metrics, governance, and policy, that is part of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

Lead by Professor Patricia McCarney (who, incidentally, is a featured speaker at our Material Evidence forum on Feb. 6), GCI has built a network of 254 cities in 81 countries around the world, each of which contribute standardized data on a variety of indicators of urban health such as education, safety, transportation, and housing.

In the past, due to differing research practices, most data collected by cities was not comparable, but the institute has been working to change that. Its database now comprises 115 indicators that conform to a standardized set of definitions and methodologies so that cities can track their effectiveness relative to others. More recently, the Institute established a worldwide rating system in agreement with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), which provides "third-party verification."

Writes Hume:

Underlying the project is the inescapable though often ignored fact that the changes sweeping the planet are being played out largely in cities. That’s why urban information is more useful than that gathered at the national or provincial levels. Whether the issue is health, aging populations, extreme weather damage or growing income disparity, it’s cities that bear the brunt.

For the full article visit the Toronto Star.