GCRO ED elected Vice-Chair of the UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Observatory Network

The GCRO's continued work with similar organisations across the world will strengthen with the election of Executive Director Rashid Seedat as Vice-Chairperson of the UN-Habitat Global Urban Observatory Network (GUO-Net) Steering Committee. The Chairperson of the network is Dr. Carla Washbourne (University College London) who has worked with the GCRO over many years, and continues to serve as one of our Research Associates. The appointments were confirmed in January 2023.

Habitat's Global Urban Observatory Network

UN-Habitat in partnership with its stakeholders developed the urban observatory model, an innovative model for urban data monitoring, collection and analysis. Today, UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Observatory Unit (GUO) is overseeing and coordinating 374 urban observatories worldwide: 101 in Africa, 143 in Asia and 130 in Latin America (https://unhabitat.org/initiative/global-urban-observatories).

Steering Committee Members

The Steering Committee is tasked with coordinating the work of the Global Urban Observatory Network in conjunction with UN-Habitat. The Committee comprises the following individuals, reflecting gender and regional diversity:

• Dr Carla Washbourne – University College London(Chairperson)
• Mr Rashid Seedat – Gauteng City-Region Observatory (Vice-Chairperson)
• Mr Dennis Mwaniki – UN-Habitat (Permanent Secretary)
• Prof David Simon- Royal Holloway, University of London
• Dr Elsa Colsado – Perspective Brussels
• Prof Michele Acuto – Connected Cities Lab, University of Melbourne
• Dr Karol Janas – Urban Policy Observatory (Poland)
• Dr Aref Alshamandy – Qassim Urban Observatory
• Prof Nausheen Anwar – Karachi Urban Lab
• Dr María Eugenia Goicoechea – Observatorio Urbano Local Buenos Aires Metropolitana

First Steps

The Steering Committee’s first task is to organise a global online workshop of all the affiliated observatories around the world to define a programme of cooperation, collaboration and mutual learning. It will also develop donor and member engagement strategies; identify champions who can advocate for the urban data agenda; and ensure that network members are informed of the activities and contribute to activities and programmes.