About us
Human activities are increasingly associated with the generation of large volumes of data that are captured through a variety of mechanisms including:
- Traditional surveys and censuses
- Transactional records collated by retailers
- Administrative data assembled to enable the efficient running of public services
- Data shadows formed as a result of social media use
- Or the increased prevalence of smart-card linked transport networks.
In addition, a multitude of other ambient data are generated by a wide range of sensors and record various attributes about our cities such as traffic volume, pedestrian flow or air quality.
Many grand human challenges concern problems of a geographical nature such as:
- How we can mitigate the human impact of climate change
- Ensuring global food and water security
- Designing energy systems that are resilient within the context of future population dynamics
- Or, how spatial inequities in health and wellbeing might be eradicated?
The growing volume of data about the form, function and dynamics of human activities and their contexts are providing new opportunities to advance these debates. However, the process of turning these new forms of data into information is challenging.
The Geographic Data Science Lab is a centre of excellence for research and teaching within this emerging area, drawing expertise from the intersection of Geographic Information Science, Spatial Analysis and Applied Geocomputation.
We work over a series of major research themes that include:
- Understanding the morphology of cities
- Explaining urban, regional and population dynamics
- Pioneering new Geographic Data Science methodologies
- Geographies of resilience, difference, exclusion and opportunity.