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The Urban Audit provides European urban statistics for 258 cities across 27 European countries. It contains almost 300 statistical indicators presenting information on matters such as demography, society, the economy, the environment, transport, the information society and leisure. The Urban Audit was conducted at the initiative of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy at the European Commission, in cooperation with EUROSTAT and the national statistical offices of the Member States.
One of the main goals of the Urban Audit is to allow mayors and other locally elected officials to compare their city directly with other cities in Europe. Such comparisons can facilitate the exchange of experience and improve the quality of local urban policies.
The Urban Audit aims at a balanced and representative sample of cities in Europe. To obtain such a selection, a few simple rules were followed:
- Approximately 20% of the national population should be covered by the Urban Audit.
- All capital cities were included.
- Where possible, regional capitals were included.
- Both large (more than 250 000 inhabitants) and medium-sized cities (minimum 50 000 and maximum 250 000 inhabitants) were included.
- The selected cities should be geographically dispersed within each Member State.
The Urban Audit works with three different spatial levels: the city, the larger urban zone (LUZ) and the sub-city district (SCD).
The Urban Audit website allows users to access data through five applications:
- City Profiles:
- This application presents an overall profile of the selected city based on a selection of indicators across domains. The profile includes the city, LUZ and subcity levels (where available) and can be downloaded as a PDF document. The selection criteria of this application are: country and city.
- How do the cities rank?:
- This application shows how cities within a selected group rank for a particular indicator. The selection criteria on this application include: domain; indicator; group; display order; and year.
- How does your city compare?:
- This application shows the position of a selected city or larger urban zone within a selected group(s) of cities for up to four indicators. The selection criteria on this application include: city or larger urban zone; indicators; group; and year.
- What is the structure of the city?:
- This application displays the score of selected indicators across the various spatial levels of the city. The selection criteria on this application include: city; year; and indicators.
- Data that can be accessed:
- This application allows the downloading of datasets for up to six indicators in various formats including by spatial level and by group. The downloadable file is in .CSV format. The selection criteria on this application include: data level; group; indicators; and year.
The Urban Audit contains data for over 250 indicators across the following domains:
- Demography
- Social Aspects
- Economic Aspects
- Civic Involvement
- Training and Education
- Environment
- Travel and Transport
- Information Society
- Culture and Recreation