/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Sectoral and regional statistics
Unit E-4: Regional statistics and geographical information

E4/REG/2013/7
(Only available in EN)

Working Party on Regional Statistics and Rural Development
to be held in Luxembourg on 30.09.2013 and 01.10.2013

Urban Statistics

State of play of data collection

Item 5.1 of the agenda

Document available on CircaBC:

The members of the Regional Statistics and Rural Development Working Group are asked:

  • to reflect on the interim results of the data collection
  • to take note of the data validation
  • to express their views on the planned dissemination activities of Eurostat

Abstract

The data collection on cities continues with a reduced set of variables. It is supported by Community grants. The state of play is described in detail in section 2. The data validation process has been revised and implemented as described in section 3. The dissemination database is under revision.

1.summary of NUAC meeting

The meeting of the National Urban Audit Co-ordinators (NUAC) took place on 5-6 June 2013 in Brussels the main conclusions from the meeting are available in Annex I.

2.State of play of data collection

The data collection continues with the reduced set of 187 variables.

Most of the data received for the years 2009-2013 has been published.

We implemented the new validation setup and sent out validation reports to all countries.

Data availability

The availability of data for 2009-2013, for cities, and variables not collected centrally, per country:

The Urban Audit handbook was published in the beginning of the year. The lists of cities and variables to be collected are published.

State of play of grant 2011/2013 (current grants)

11 grant agreements covering 15 countries were awarded 2011. The awarded grant agreements are listed on Eurostat’swebsite. Most agreements run until mid-2014. We received Interim reports from all participants except Italy where we expect an interim report by 1st of October 2013.

State of play of grants 2013/2015

A call for proposal waspublished 14th of June 2013.

We have received 12 applications covering 15 countries. The proposals are being evaluated and the grant award procedure is expected to finish before the end of the year. The final results will be published on Eurostat’s website.

3.Overview of data quality

In 2012 a methodological study (see document onCircabc) has been completed to review and update the data validation rules. They study specified 13 different types of validation; all described in the document “Report on the proposed data validation set-up”: typecheck, length check, presence check, allowed character check, uniqueness check, code list check, consistency check, range check, balance check, spatial level balance check, time series checks, revised integrity check, inter-dataset check.

Many of these checks were already in place, but have now been simplified and include error margins. We have implemented all types of validations on the list except “times series checks”, “revised integrity check” and “inter-dataset check”.Revised integrity” and “inter-dataset” checks are for the moment technically not possible to implement.

Validation reports containing a total ofaround 4000 lines of data will be sent to countries participating in the collection.

Validated data was published mid-September 2013.

4.Overview of restructured dissemination database

The Urban Audit data collection will soon be displayed on Eurostat’s pages in 21 different tables, 11 tables for Cities and Core cities, 10 for Larger Urban Zones. The subdivision is in thematic bits, using the same logic all Eurostat’s tables:

URBAN AUDIT
Cities and greater cities
1 / Economy and finance - cities and greater cities
2 / Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - cites and greater cities
3 / Population structure - cites and greater cities
4 / Population by citizenship and country of birth - cites and greater cities
5 / Fertility and mortality - cites and greater cities
6 / Social statistics - multiannual - cites and greater cities
7 / Social statistics - annual - cites and greater cities
8 / Labour market - annual - cities and greater cities
9 / Labour market - multiannual - cities and greater cities
10 / Transport - cities and greater cities
11 / Environment - cities and greater cities
Larger urban zone
1 / Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - larger urban zone
2 / Population structure - larger urban zone
3 / Population by citizenship and country of birth - larger urban zone
4 / Fertility and mortality - larger urban zone
5 / Social statistics, multiannual - larger urban zone
6 / Social statistics, annual - larger urban zone
7 / Labour market, annual - larger urban zone
8 / Labour market, multiannual - larger urban zone
9 / Transport - larger urban zone
10 / Environment - larger urban zone

This division makes it possible to display data collected annually and data collected in four year periods in different tables. An example:

Table 2”Population by citizenship and country of birth – cities and greater cities” will show data per year from 1990.

Table 9 “Labour market – multiannual – cities and greater cities” will display data in four year intervals; this is the same display as our current tables have.

The tables contain all 187 variables collected plus 63 derived indicators. We have removed all derived indicators that were identical to the variable collected.

4. Metadata, link to new EPMS file

In the past Eurostat asked NSIsto draft an interim and final report about the Urban Audit including metadata. This information was published only in CIRCA to a restricted user group.The reports deviated in content to a large extent.In order to harmonise the content of the reports and make it available to the public we would like to ask you to prepare a reference metadata file for your data.This reference metadata file shall be based on a standardised format called Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS).

These files could be submitted to Eurostat using the National Reference Metadata Editor (NRME). The National Reference Metadata Editor (NRME) is an IT application used for the production, transmission and validation of national reference metadata files. It uses the ESS reference metadata standard the ESMS. This IT application is used by authorized metadata producers in Member States.

Please find the detailed description of the ESMS structure and its links to the previous final reports in Annex II.

Annex I.

/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Sectoral and regional statistics

Main conclusions from the meeting of the
National Urban Audit Co-ordinators

5-6 June 2013 – DG Regional and Urban Policy, Brussels

  1. Welcome by Rudolf Niessler Director of DG Regional and Urban Policy
  1. State of play

DG Regional and Urban Policy (Regio) and Eurostat presented the state of play of the data collection and related work on definition of spatial units and dissemination. The related presentations are available on CircaBC[1].

  • DG Regio requested National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) to submit data to be used in the 6th Cohesion Report by end of September 2013 at the latest.
  • Eurostat requested that in the data deliveries the agreed spatial codes should be used. The codes at city, greater city and larger urban zone level include a version number. The list of agreed codes is available on CircaBC[2].
  • In case of sub-city districts the codes remain unchanged. The codes used in the previous data collection round (2009/2010) should be used. In case of new or modified sub-city districts NSIs are requested to send a proposal to Eurostat including the label of the sub city district, the population and the digital maps (if available). Eurostat will assign the codes to be used for these new and/or modified sub-city districts.
  • Eurostat requested all National Urban Audit Co-ordinators (NUACs) (with or without a grant) to use preferably the National Reference Metadata Editor (NRME) to submit metadata related to the data collection. This is not an obligation.
  • The submission of an interim report is only an obligation to the NSIs who signed the grant agreement. The metadata provided could substitute partly or fully the interim report.
  1. City Definition endorsed

The Commission reviewed recently the set of territorial units and territorial typologies used by the EU for the collection, compilation and dissemination of harmonised regional and local statistics. The review resulted in a proposal for a global methodology based on a 1 km2 population grid ensuring a link to administrative territorial units. In the course of inter-service discussions expectations were expressed to provide a legal base to a set of territorial units including the cities, greater cites and larger urban zones.

  • DG Regio and Eurostat asked for comments and promised to keep NSIs informed on the latest developments related to this work.
  1. Work programme 2014-2015

Eurostat presented the Work programme 2014-2015. The related presentation and document is available on CircaBC1. This Work programme will serve as the ‘skeleton’ of the call for proposals. NSIs are invited to enrich this work programme in their proposals.

  • Eurostat will launch the call for proposals by the end of June.
  • NSIs are requested to submit a proposal by mid August.[3]
  1. Group discussion: Sharing experiences and knowledge. Mid-term review of the data collection

Three groups have been created and the following conclusions and action points were noted:

  • Adding value to the Urban Audit
  • Improvements in „promoting” the Urban Audit are needed.
  • We have to show what is in it for cities: by producing case studies to show how it could be used at the city level, at European level.
  • We could outreach to different groups, like local area research associations, university students, other networks.
  • The quality of the product shall improve, better timeliness, relevance, availability.
  • City typologies and city boundaries
  • Visualize the different spatial levels by creating maps per city.
  • Disseminate the composition of the LUZ.
  • We consider the list of cities exhaustive but some smaller cities could be looked at to complement the data collection.
  • Review of indicators

The current list of indicators is a compromise between data supply and demand. It shrank due to lack of data and due to the lack of resources. The usability of certain ’central data sources’ could be checked.

  • DG Regio contacts the European Environment Agency to find out about availability of noise data.
  1. Quality of Life in European Cities, 2012 Survey

DG Regio presented the results of the Quality of Life in European Cities survey. The related presentation will be released after the public release of the results. In the following discussion it was concluded that objective statistical data and subjective perception data complement each other.

  • DG Regio will inform on the release of the data. It is expected in summer 2013.
  • Eurostat will disseminate the data afterwards.
  1. New publications and analysis on urban issues

DG Regio presented the new publication on city definitions and the analytical work on city typologies and access to public transport. All related presentation and documentation is available on CircaBC1.

In the discussion on the harmonized city definition the need to harmonize terminology with the OECD has been raised and acknowledged. The term “urban centre” can be misleading as some people associate the term centre with functions. Urban core or urban area was proposed. However, it is used for other spatial levels. The term “high density cluster” is the most accurate but hard to understand.

The proposal to add functional criteria to the definition was also discussed. In the short term it will not be included in the definition but several functional characteristics are considered in the typologies. Most typologies were welcome by the NUACs while some typologies (like coastal cities) were considered rather data driven and less relevant for policy purposes. The presentation on the accessibility and availability of public transport in selected cities triggered a lot of interest.

  • DG Regio will initiate the harmonization of the terminology between OECD, DG Regio and Eurostat.
  • DG Regio invites all NUACs to provide feedback on the typologies and propose further developments
  • Analysis and statistics on cities could be made more accessible on the internet. (Currently the information seems to be scattered on various sites.)
  1. Small Area Estimates of Early School Leavers

Valeriya Angelova senior expert of "Regional statistics and GIS" and NUAC in the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute presented a Methodology for Production of Small Area Estimates at Local Administrative Units level. The related presentation and document are available on CircaBC1.

All participants (DG Regio, Eurostat and NUACs) welcomed the worked carried out by the Bulgarian NUAC and encouraged the continuation. This could serve as a best practice or an example to follow or adapt in other NSIs as well. In the discussion it was proposed to organise a meeting dedicated to Small Area Estimation (SAE) methods.

  • DG Regio and Eurostat will reflect on the possibility of organising a specific session on SAE.
  1. Presentation by the OECD: the website on urban statistics (metro-explorer) and work on the upcoming report on urban trends and governance

Daniel Sanchez Serra, from the OECD, presented the new website featuring the Metro-eXplorer. He also gave an overview of the upcoming report on urban trends and governance. The related presentation and document is available on CircaBC1.

All participants (DG Regio, Eurostat and NUACs) welcomed the worked carried out by the OECD. In the discussion it was concluded that a tool similar to the Metro-eXplorer could be also beneficial for communicating city data.

  • Eurostat will reflect on the possibility of using the eXplorer tool for city data in the future.
  1. Tour de table

Three questions were raised by the chairman for this session. The answers could be summarized as follows.

  • Would a change in the name ’Urban Audit’ benefit or hinder the project?

In several countries the term ’Urban Audit’ identifies the project and is seen as a positive quality label. It is well-known within the NSIs and by key users. It is widely used in dissemination. A sudden change in the name would not be welcome. On the other hand the term is not easily understandable for the general public. For this reason it has not been used in some NSIs. The majority of the NUACs considered the changing of the name feasible in the medium term. In the short term the old and new names should be used in parallel.

Opinions on the alternative term ’city statistics’ were also diverse. Some NUACs considered it a more understandable name, while others have seen it as misleading in the national context since it does not include all cities.

  • What can the European Commission do to help the NSIs and NUACs in particular?
  • The aim of the data collection is international comparison. Eurostat should improve and update the online database and its website to facilitate these comparisons.
  • All information related to the project should be available under one entry point online. The urbanaudit.org website shall be taken off line.
  • More information, promotion materials would be welcome. In particular a short paper on the headlines of the project: who is it for? what is it used for?
  • The harmonised spatial concepts are much appreciated but they should be visualized.
  • Timeliness of data could be improved.
  • The profile of the data collection shall be ‘sharpened’. The link to the urban development policy measures should be more evident.
  • Further improvement of the methodological documents
  • DG Regio could demonstrate how the data is used for policy purposes.
  • ‘Official requests’ sent by the Commission would increase the perception of priority of the data collection within the NSI and the willingness of cities to co-operate.
  • What kind of communication activity is done or foreseen at national level?

The dissemination activity varies among NSIs. Some NSIs invest considerable efforts and resources to analyse the data and provide a comprehensive range of services including printed publications, map based data visualization, dedicated websites etc. In some NSIs the scope of dissemination is limited to the data provision or a link to the Eurostat dataset. Few NSIs which have not participated in the past projects do not disseminate the data at all.

Several NUACs reported on planned or past meetings with city representatives, students, etc. Some have permanent direct contact with stakeholders via an advisory group or a virtual ‘knowledge hub’.

Annex II.

ESMS sections / Description of the information included in the ESMS sections / Sections in previous Urban Audit final reports
1 Contact / Contact details of the organisation and the persons involved in the Urban Audit project / Contact details as provided by the countries, usually in the front page of the final report / To be filled in by NUACs
1.1 Contact organisation
1.2 Contact organisation unit
1.3 Contact name
1.4 Contact person function
1.5 Contact mail address
1.6 Contact email address
1.7 Contact phone number
1.8 Contact fax number
2 Metadata update / Dates of last updating, certifying and posting the metadata on the tool - at this point all dates coincide / Generated automatically
2.1 Metadata last certified
2.2 Metadata last posted
2.3 Metadata last update
3 Statistical presentation / Overview of the project
3.1 Data description / Description of the data collected and provided to Eurostat - Information on the data availability and the final coverage of variables / Final coverage of variables / Description of work / The data collection provides information and comparable measurements on the different aspects of the quality of urban life in cities.
3.2 Classification system / Information on the spatial levels defined for the UA collection - classification of spatial units - changes in delimitation of spatial units - new units added / Spatial Units / Specific classification and coding systems have been developed for the spatial units and for the variables and indicators. For the description of the coding system and the list of indicators and variables see the Methodological Manual on City Statistics.