---
id: "govlab:project/project-circular-city"
type: "GovLab project"
title: "Circular City"
url: "https://thegovlab.org/project/project-circular-city"
summary: "Analysis on the collection, production, and exchange of data and business insights between urban collaborators support economic development in Downtown Brooklyn."
source: "The GovLab (thegovlab.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Circular City

Analysis on the collection, production, and exchange of data and business insights between urban collaborators support economic development in Downtown Brooklyn.

Project website: [http://files.thegovlab.org/Circular_Data.pdf](http://files.thegovlab.org/Circular_Data.pdf)

## Background

The Circular City program is a project launched by NewLab in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership to explore ways data can help the Downtown Brooklyn area. The work relied on the concept of “Circular Data,” the collection, production, and exchange of data, and business insights, between a series of urban collaborators around a shared set of inquiries. Work began in 2018 with a second phase planned for 2020.

## Description

The GovLab’s contribution to this project centered around circular data’s potential for economic development. Focusing on data made accessible by the three start-ups, the work had three central components. First, it sorted potential uses into a five-category framework: Situational Analysis; Cause and Effect Analysis; Prediction; Impact and Value Assessment; and Ecosystem Support. Second, it identified and analyzed a number of circular data-driven use cases across these categories. Finally, it reflected on the enabling conditions, challenges, and risks associated with the use of circular data, and provide several recommendations for practitioners to maximize impact of circular data on economic development objectives.

## Location

- United States

## Partners

- New Lab
- CARMERA
- Numina
- Citiesense
- Columbia University
- Cornell Tech
- Citi Ventures
- New York City Economic Development Corporation
- DRAW Brooklyn

## Additional resources

- [The Circular City: A New Model for Collaboration](https://medium.com/newlab/new-lab-circular-city-new-lab-city-159d1f540194)
- [The Role of Applied Research in Urban Tech](https://newlab.com/stories/applied-research-urban-tech/)