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GCRICities and Built EnvironmentIn development
Cities and Built Environment · Mandate and publisher

Mandate and publisher

Cities and Built Environment is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI), the research, development and policy institution of Nexus Consortiums. GCRI works across Canada and the United States. This page sets out the platform's mandate, who answers for it, the limits of its role and its current state. See the Cities and Built Environment home page.

Make an enquiry Back to Cities and Built Environment
In this dossier6 parts
  1. 01In briefThe short answer
  2. 02MandateResearch on how cities are built and how they fail
  3. 03Why a dedicated platformA distinct professional community
  4. 04LimitsWhat the platform does not do
  5. 05Key termsTerms used on this page
  6. 06Current stateIn development at R0

GCRI · In development · service level R0

STEM methods
9
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
8
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
5
Platforms in shared fields at GCRI, GRF and GRA
Report series
2
Nexus Reports series it contributes to
01In brief

The short answer.

Cities and Built Environment is a specialist platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation for cities and built environment, critical infrastructure, and society and human development. Its mandate covers urban development, buildings, mobility, infrastructure, housing and human-scale resilience. GCRI publishes it, answers for its content and takes no decision on anyone's behalf. It is in development at service level R0, and activities open as each is ready.

02Canvas

Mandate to authority.

Canvas · mandate to authorityDesign, not a record
How Cities and Built Environment is governedA mandate sets the platform's scope; an editor and reviewers govern what it publishes; programmes and the community supply the work; the integrity route handles corrections; authority over decisions stays outside. Design of the governance, not a record.

Fig.How the platform is governed, from its mandate to the authorities who decide. Design, not a record.

03Geography

People and hazards in India.

For mandate and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on India; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

People and hazards, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For mandate and publisher, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on India; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Optional layers (5 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026

04Mandate

Research on how cities are built and how they fail.

The platform covers urban development, buildings, mobility, infrastructure, housing and human-scale resilience. It brings planning, design, engineering and social research together around a single question: how the built environment shapes exposure, vulnerability and recovery.

Field

Scope

Cities and built environment, with links to critical infrastructure and to society and human development.

Community

Who takes part

Urban researchers, city officials, planners, architects and housing specialists.

Outputs

What it publishes

Urban resilience profiles, built-environment briefs and city research case studies.

05Why a dedicated platform

A distinct professional community.

The urban-planning community is distinct from the engineering operators of specific lifelines. Planners, architects and housing specialists work on land, form, tenure and design across a whole city, while lifeline engineers work on the performance of particular networks. GCRI therefore keeps lifeline engineering on Critical Infrastructure and the urban whole here, with explicit links between them.

GCRI publishes the platform and answers for its content and corrections. Editorial coverage of each topic requires named subject review, references and relevant independent specialist voices.

06Limits

What the platform does not do.

  • It does not regulate, certify, license or approve any building, plan, product or institution.
  • It does not issue planning advice for individual sites or replace a qualified engineer's assessment.
  • Taking part gives no authority, appointment or influence over findings, and sponsorship confers no editorial control.
  • Planning, building control and investment decisions remain with competent authorities and owners under their own rules; see trust, rights and status.
07Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
Service level R0The current service level of Nexus pages: information and enquiries only. An enquiry receives a reference and a named next step; it creates no membership, contract, assignment or commitment.
Conflict of interestA situation in which financial, professional or personal interests could compromise, or appear to compromise, judgement in research or review.
Urban resilienceThe measurable ability of an urban system and its inhabitants to maintain continuity through shocks and stresses while adapting and transforming.
Built environmentThe human-made surroundings in which people live and work, including buildings, streets, utilities and public spaces.
08Current state

In development at R0.

Cities and Built Environment is in development. Its pages set out its scope and how it works, and its activities, records and services are published here as each one opens. The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; programmes, working groups and data releases open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.

Related pages: field overview, research and evidence and GCRI platforms.

09Questions

Questions and answers.

Is Cities and Built Environment a separate organization?
No. It is a specialist platform of GCRI, which publishes it.
Who can I contact?
Write to research@therisk.global or see contact the specialist team.
When will programmes open?
When their team, terms and review capacity exist. No date is announced until it is on record.
Related

Around Cities and Built Environment.

Cities and Built Environment

Bring your expertise to this field.

The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.

Write to the team See all contact routes