Toolbox

In the desk research activity spatial, qualitative and quantitative data is collected regarding the current conditions of the city. While the Contextualisation Block A provides a general understanding of the context and the existing planning documents, this activity aims to gather and compile more detailed data required to analyse the city. Information at national and regional level should also be collected and analysed to understand the wider context the city is inserted in and how the various aspects and existing conditions of the surrounding area impacts the development and functioning of the city. 

This activity considers information at different scales (national, regional and local/ city level) related to planning frameworks and processes, governance and administrative boundaries, the natural environment and agriculture, demographic and social aspects, historical and current climate trends, the built environment, mobility and transportation, basic services provision, migration trends, etc. 

Usually, some data is already available in the government and institutional websites, or in the municipality offices as a soft or hard copy. The technical team should consult all the available sources, including cartography gathered in the previous activities, open source shapefiles, satellite images, historical pictures, climographs etc. UN-Habitat recommends using an open source Geographic Information System (GIS) software to adopt an evidence-based approach for urban development. Whenever some data is not available or outdated, it is worth conducting the following field research activity to produce new data. The information is then digitised and consolidated in a single digital project. The data is then compiled into a series of spatial base maps and diagrams that describe the current conditions of the city regarding different topics.