This research project explores geographically-varied ‘data cultures’ (i.e. variegated representations, values, norms, epistemologies, practices, infrastructures, standards, power structures, etc, through which data is produced and used). Specifically, it considers how such data cultures inform the monitoring of progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as they relate to urban housing.

In the pilot stage, the post-socialist countries of Georgia, Ukraine, Albania and Kyrgyzstan were selected as research settings, in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

An expanded second phase of the project – Reliable Evidence-Based Data for Housing Policy (REDEHOPE) – funded by Geneva Science-Policy Interface, will consolidate this pilot research and put it into comparative context with four additional research settings: Greece, Ireland, Italy and Norway.