Our research beacon

Cities are now home to the majority of the world’s population. As engines of economic growth, social interaction and cultural vibrancy, they also face deep-rooted inequalities in health, education, affluence and access to resources. Urban areas are sites of opportunity—but also complexity—demanding innovative approaches to planning, governance, and development.

The Urban Analytics and City Science Research Beacon, based at the University of Auckland Business School, is a multidisciplinary initiative dedicated to understanding how people interact with places over time and space. Our research focuses on the intersections of ‘people, place, and process’, using advanced tools such as data science, AI, spatial analysis, and geostatistics, integrated with diverse disciplinary insights from architecture, planning, economics, environmental science, and public health.

Through this Beacon, we aim to generate evidence-based solutions to some of the most pressing urban challenges of our time—including housing affordability, urban inequality, green accessibility, and climate resilience—working across sectors and geographies to inform better decision-making and policy outcomes.