Mapping Availability and Access to Urban Public Space with Global Open Data (SDG Indicator 11.7.1)

Description

United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 is "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable." Prevalence of and access to public space is critical for achieving SDG 11. Aside from environmental benefits, public space can also help improve public health, bolster community, and encourage economic exchange. As one measure of progress, the UN has established SDG indicator 11.7.1 : "Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities."

Public space comes in a variety of forms and can include parks, streets, sidewalks, markets, and playgrounds. SDG indicator 11.7.1 focuses on two types of public space:  streets and Open Public Space (OPS). Streets are defined as  "thoroughfares that are based inside urban areas, towns, cities, and neighborhoods most commonly lined with houses or buildings used by pedestrians or vehicles in order to go from one place to another in the city, interact, and earn a livelihood." OPS is defined as "any open piece of land that is undeveloped, or land with no buildings that is accessible to the public without charge, that provides recreational areas for residents, helping to enhance the beauty and environmental quality of neighborhoods." Examples of OPS include green public areas, parks, and community gardens. SDG indicator 11.7.1 aims to monitor both the prevalence of public space (roads and OPS) in an urban center, and community access to that urban center's OPS. Moreover, SDG indicator 11.7.1 can be considered as two sub-indicators: average share of public space in urban centers and access to OPS in urban centers.

This knowledge package includes resources related to the production of a data set presenting SDG indicator 11.7.1 for 8,873 urban centers across 180 countries, computed using global open data sources. Production of the data set was completed in support of the Population and Infrastructure on Our Human Planet project, part of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Human Planet Initiative (HPI).

The methodology employed was informed by the official UN SDG Indicator metadata acquired from the SDG Indicators Metadata Repository.

• Indicator 11.7.1: Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities (version updated 2021-03-01)

Knowledge Resources