Over 1.4 million rare and hard-to-find research reports from  more than 160 countries

Why are city and local government reports important?

Climate change. Immigration. Racial equity. Cities are on the front lines of today’s most pressing challenges and their publications document the ground truth. Few sources have such current, detailed, fact-based information. Rich in statistics, the documents provide practical examples of what policies work, along with hard evidence. From coastal erosion to vehicle emissions, the issues addressed by municipal policies provide a window into historical attitudes, actions, and outcomes.

 

Challenges

Older born-digital reports are often removed from city websites without keeping copies. The reasons range from political to a simple decision to revamp a website. Other documents are spread across the websites of related organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, and so can be hard to find. Still other reports have yet to be digitized.

Very few city reports have unique identifiers, indexing, or sophisticated search tools. The materials become hard to find, difficult to examine, and at risk of disappearing altogether.

Our solution

World Cities preserves the full text of surveys, budgets, statistical records, case studies, planning documents, training manuals, policy guidelines, reports, and news from the world’s top 100 cities by population, capital cities with populations greater than 20,000 people, major cities in the Global South and cities with particular research importance - such as those dealing with climate change, political instability, or rapid growth.

We also include reports from leading ports, airports, economic development zones, fire, health and police departments. It also includes select materials from hundreds of related agencies and non-governmental organizations. With more than 1.4m documents, it provides a new and typically unmined source for observing policy in action.

The larger cities are monitored for added items weekly, others monthly. A community feature of the Commons platform is an upload tool, and members are encouraged to add reports from smaller cities and other municipal organizations that they would like Policy Commons: World Cities to keep safe forever.

 

Current, in-depth, factual and statistical data covering many topics are found in these reports

Topical coverage

  • Animal control and welfare

  • Architecture

  • Climate and environment

  • Diversity, equity, inclusion

  • Education and youth

  • Emergency, fire and safety

  • Energy and utilities

  • Immigration

  • Leisure and tourism

  • Libraries

  • Local history

  • Mental health

  • Police, crime and incarceration

  • Public health and epidemiology

  • Small business and economics

  • Sports, arts and culture

  • Statistics and data

  • Status of women

  • Terrorism

  • Transportation

  • Urban planning

  • Water resources and sewerage

  • Zoos, parks, forestry, and urban agriculture

Content types

  • Annual reports

  • Budgets 

  • Case studies

  • Commissioned reports

  • Planning documents

  • Environmental impact reports

  • Policies and guidelines

  • News and press releases

  • Surveys

  • Statistical data

  • Training and how-to guides


Add and share reports

Registered members can upload and share reports. Within minutes, the documents are indexed, summarized, and available to the Policy Commons community. Bulk uploads of historical reports are made using a spreadsheet.

 

Access options

Get immediate, limited access by registering here. Unlimited access, with additional content and features, is available to institutional subscribers. Choose from the following options: