A new platform provides a powerful tool for finding data-driven solutions to the complex problems faced by urban areas. Plenario, which facilitates accessing, combining, downloading, and visualizing datasets released by city, county, state, and federal governments, offers a user-friendly interface to help take data-driven urban research beyond spreadsheets and towards helpful insights and solutions. The platform, developed by the University of Chicago’s Urban Center for Computation and Data with support from MacArthur, is designed to help government officials and researchers harness the potential of data released by governments to advance policy, research, and public engagement in cities.
