Improving Urban Policy Decision Making

Joining HUD in the venture, called the "Global Urban Indicators" project, will be the UniversityConsortium for Geographic Information Science, a joint venture between a number of U.S. and foreignuniversities. HUD recently awarded UCGIS a $240,000 grant to help establish and develop thecollaborative venture. The grant is expected to leverage more than $2.6 million in additional funding. The goal of the project is to increase use of geographic information system research as the basis formaking informed policy decisions making. GIS research uses such key indicators as poverty rates,housing starts, rents, and access to safe water in helping make informed decisions. To reach the project's goal, the researchers will develop GIS training materials and data sets for aselect number of urban indicators available on the Internet by the end of the project's first year. Policymakers in the U.S. and developing countries can benefit from these urban indicators for decisionmaking on housing and urban development programs.