Urban Big Data Centre
Urban Big Data Centre is a University of Glasgow research centre that hosts licensed urban datasets (Adzuna, Zoopla, Huq) and provides data analytics, computer vision tools, and the IDEAMAPS platform to academic researchers, UK local authorities, and international partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Urban Big Data Centre does
Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) is a research centre based at the University of Glasgow, established in January 2014 with an initial £14 million joint investment from the UK Government (via the Economic and Social Research Council) and the University of Glasgow. The organization functions as a national data infrastructure hub for urban research, hosting one of the UK's largest collections of licensed urban datasets and providing secure access to academic researchers, policymakers, and local authorities. Its core products include a public Data Catalogue, computer vision tools for urban sensing (including CCTV object detection and LIDAR processing), the IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem Platform for Global South informal settlement mapping, and bespoke analytic services for UK local government.
UBDC's underlying technology stack centres on geospatial data management, computer vision (notably YOLOv4-based object detection), and statistical/spatial analysis tooling, with infrastructure supporting secure access to sensitive administrative datasets through the ADR Scotland partnership. The centre has assembled a distinctive asset base including 350M+ Adzuna job listings, Zoopla property data, Huq mobility data, and curated sensor outputs — typically secured through long-term data-for-research partnerships with commercial providers. Strategic partnerships span UK local authorities (Glasgow City Council, Renfrewshire Council), international organizations (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Brazil's Secretaria Nacional de Periferias), and philanthropic funders including the Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and UKRI.
The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. UBDC derives no meaningful product revenue from data licensing or SaaS offerings; instead, it operates on multi-year research grants from UK research councils and international foundations, with cumulative disclosed funding exceeding £20 million over its operational history. The centre employs 51-100 staff and monetizes its data and methodological expertise through research outputs, policy advisory work, and capacity-building programmes rather than direct commercial transactions. This structure limits scalability but provides a stable operating base tied to public-sector and philanthropic priorities.
Urban Big Data Centre firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Urban Big Data Centre
- Legal name
- Urban Big Data Centre (University of Glasgow)
- Website
- https://ubdc.ac.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Urban Big Data Centre is a University of Glasgow research centre that hosts licensed urban datasets (Adzuna, Zoopla, Huq) and provides data analytics, computer vision tools, and the IDEAMAPS platform to academic researchers, UK local authorities, and international partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Urban Big Data Centre is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Urban Big Data Centre business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Research Funding and Grants: Supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the University of Glasgow. Receives significant research grants from UKRI, Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, and European Space Agency for specific research projects. UK government announced £14 million investment in January 2014 for the creation of UBDC and two other data services forming part of the Big Data Network.
- Data Licensing and Services: UBDC provides data services including licensed data (from Zoopla, Adzuna, Huq) and open data. They work with data owners to agree terms that maximise data value while safeguarding owners' interests. Data collections range from open data through restricted data to controlled data for accredited users in secure environments.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Urban Big Data Centre product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UBDC is a national research centre and data service that captures, processes, and analyses urban big data to provide academic researchers, policymakers, and local authorities with curated access to licensed and open datasets, analytical tools, and research outputs. Its core deliverables include the Data Catalogue housing datasets on transport, housing, labour market, and environment; expert data curation and analysis services; the Glasgow CCTV Object Detection Platform; and graduate education programmes (MSc/PhD) in urban analytics.
Product overview
UBDC is a national research centre and data service providing a comprehensive platform of smart urban data products and services. The core offering centers on the Data Catalogue (data.ubdc.ac.uk) providing access to extensive datasets, supported by Data Services for expert curation and analysis. Data is organized around four Data Themes (Transport and Mobility, Housing and Property, Labour Market, Environment) and five Research Themes (City Modelling and Sensing, Housing and Neighbourhoods, Labour Markets, Transport and Mobility, Urban Governance). Key data products include the Adzuna Job Listings Dataset (350M+ records), Zoopla Property Data, Glasgow CCTV Object Detection Platform, Public Transport Accessibility Indicators, LIDAR/3D city models, and nightlight imagery. The platform also encompasses the IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem for international development, PACHA climate-health research in Brazil, MSc/PhD education programmes, and training resources including how-to guides and webinars. UBDC provides both open data access and licensed data for academic research, with technical tools including the CCTV API and GitHub-hosted open-source code for web scraping and analysis.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Data Catalogue Central data repository providing access to UBDC's extensive collections of licensed and open urban datasets including property, transport, labour market, and environmental data for academic researchers and policymakers.
- Data Services Expert data services including data collection, processing, analysis, and curation support for researchers and policymakers working with smart urban data.
- Glasgow CCTV Object Detection Platform Privacy-protecting system that uses computer vision (YOLOv4) to count pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and other objects from Glasgow City Council CCTV cameras, providing openly available mobility data.
- CCTV Object Detection API API providing programmatic access to Glasgow CCTV object detection counts including pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles from cameras in Glasgow City Council area.
- Adzuna Job Listings Dataset Longitudinal dataset spanning 2016-2024 containing more than 350 million job advertisements from the UK's most popular vacancy search engine for labour market research.
- Zoopla Property Data Property listing data from Zoopla covering sales and rentals for Great Britain from 2010 onwards, available under licence for non-commercial academic research.
- Public Transport Accessibility Indicators Open dataset showing public transport accessibility across Great Britain, indicating how easy it is to reach different amenities (jobs, healthcare, retail) from various locations.
- MSc Urban Analytics Programme Master's programme in Urban Analytics offered by University of Glasgow, providing graduate-level training in urban data analytics methods and smart data analysis.
- MSc Urban Transport Programme Master's programme in Urban Transport offered by University of Glasgow, providing graduate-level training in transport planning and mobility data analytics.
- PhD Programme Substantial PhD programme at University of Glasgow supervising students worldwide with interests in diverse applications of urban analytics methods and smart data.
- Airbnb Web Scraping Platform Open-source software platform and methodology for scraping short-term-let data from Airbnb, available on GitHub for researchers to replicate data collection methods.
- IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem Platform Digital mapping tool empowering citizens with local knowledge to help improve deprived areas in Low- and Middle-Income countries, developed with $1.5m Gates Foundation funding.
- PACHA Research Project Participatory Analytics for Climate-Health Adaptation project combining climate and health data with participatory action research in Brazil's favela communities, funded by £2.5M Wellcome Trust.
- Training Resources Training courses, how-to guides, webinars, and workshop materials including YOLOv4 Object Detection, multimodal transport routing with R, time series charting, and web scraping for research.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over £1 million investment pledged by Southwark Council in response to Hot Homes project findings
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Urban Big Data Centre
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Urban Big Data Centre technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability19 records
Feature4 records
Urban Big Data Centre partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, core and secondary.
- Secretaria Nacional de Periferias (Brazil)strategicPart of Brazil's Federal Ministry for Cities, partnering on the Mapa das Periferias (Map of the Peripheries) project to support community mapping of informal settlements in Brazil. UBDC provides expertise in participatory urban analytics.
- Humanitarian Open Street Map Team (HOT)strategicInternational NGO partnering with UBDC and Secretaria Nacional de Periferias to deliver MdP Collect, a customised Field Mapping Tasking Manager tool for community mapping campaigns across Brazil (April-November 2025).
- AdzunacorePartnership providing access to millions of job listings data for the whole UK. Dataset spans 2016-2024 with over 350 million job advertisements collected through weekly snapshots.
- HuqcorePartnership providing academics with access to mobile phone app data with high spatial and temporal resolution. Data used for mobility metrics and travel behaviour analysis.
- ZooplacoreStrategic partnership providing access to property listing data from sales and rentals for the whole of Britain (from 2010 onwards). Data available under licence for non-commercial academic research.
- University of GlasgowcoreHost institution for UBDC. Based at Lilybank Gardens on the university's West End campus. Jointly funds UBDC with ESRC and provides academic programmes including MSc and PhD in Urban Analytics and Urban Transport.
- Glasgow City CouncilcoreStrategic partner providing data access and collaboration on urban research. UBDC works with the council on CCTV data, traffic monitoring, and city transformation projects. The council's Head of Business Intelligence cites UBDC collaboration as critical for data-driven decision making.
- North Lanarkshire CouncilsecondaryStrategic partner in addition to Glasgow City Council for local authority data collaboration and research projects.
- GALLANTsecondaryListed as a strategic partner, details of collaboration not specified in available source material.
- Fundacao Getulio Vargas (Brazil)strategicBrazilian institution in PACHA project consortium, working with UBDC on climate-health adaptation research in disadvantaged urban communities in Brazil.
- Centre for Integration on Health Data of Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (CIDACS/Fiocruz)strategicBrazilian health research institution in PACHA project consortium focusing on climate change impacts on health and wellbeing in Brazil's favelas.
- Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR)strategicBrazilian university in PACHA project consortium contributing to climate-health research in urban communities.
- Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)strategicBrazilian university in PACHA project consortium working on participatory urban analytics for climate adaptation.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Urban Big Data Centre competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Urban Institute: US-based non-profit research organisation producing data-driven analysis on housing, cities, and economic mobility. Comparable to UBDC in delivering evidence-based urban and social policy research using large datasets, though serving primarily a US audience.
- Open Data Institute (ODI): UK-founded organisation focused on building an open, trusted data ecosystem, including urban and mobility data. Comparable to UBDC in championing data access for research and policy, though ODI works across sectors while UBDC is urban-specific.
- Centre for Cities: UK think tank focused on urban economic performance and policy. Comparable to UBDC in targeting UK policymakers and producing data-driven urban analysis, though it is policy/publishing-led rather than data-platform-led and does not operate a licensed data catalogue.
- Future Cities Catapult (Connected Places Catapult): UK government-backed innovation centre for urban innovation and mobility. Comparable to UBDC as a publicly funded UK centre working at the intersection of urban data, transport, and policy, though with a stronger innovation/commercial focus rather than academic research.
Direct peers
- Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (UCL): UCL research centre focused on urban analytics, smart cities, and spatial data science. Closely comparable to UBDC in disciplinary focus (urban analytics, city modelling), target audience (researchers and policymakers), and delivery (research outputs, training, MSc programmes). Sir Alan Wilson, UBDC's 2014 opening speaker, is associated with CASA.
- MIT Senseable City Lab: MIT research lab studying how digital technologies and sensor data reshape urban environments. Comparable to UBDC through its work with mobility data, computer vision applied to cities, and partner-funded urban analytics research.
- New York University Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP): NYU research centre applying big data and analytics to urban challenges including transport, housing, and infrastructure. Comparable to UBDC in combining urban-focused data science with public-sector use cases, education programmes, and city partnerships (e.g., New York City agencies analogous to Glasgow City Council).
- The Alan Turing Institute: UK national research institute for data science and AI, also founded with government/RCUK backing and operating across multiple universities. Comparable to UBDC as a publicly funded national data research hub serving academic and policy users, though Turing operates more broadly across data science rather than focusing on urban analytics.
Emerging players
- Data & Society: US research organisation studying the social implications of data-centric technologies. Comparable to UBDC in the social-science framing of urban data and ethics, though focused on research outputs rather than operating a data infrastructure platform.
Others
- Smart Cities Council: Industry consortium advising cities on smart city strategy, data, and technology adoption. Comparable to UBDC as an adjacent stakeholder in the urban data ecosystem, helping cities adopt data-driven approaches analogous to UBDC's research and policy work.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Urban Big Data Centre social profiles
Digital presenceUrban Big Data Centre compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Urban Big Data Centre financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Urban Big Data Centre leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Urban Big Data Centre funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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Urban Big Data Centre M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about Urban Big Data Centre
What does Urban Big Data Centre do?
UBDC is a national research centre and data service that captures, processes, and analyses urban big data to provide academic researchers, policymakers, and local authorities with curated access to licensed and open datasets, analytical tools, and research outputs. Its core deliverables include the Data Catalogue housing datasets on transport, housing, labour market, and environment; expert data curation and analysis services; the Glasgow CCTV Object Detection Platform; and graduate education programmes (MSc/PhD) in urban analytics.
Is Urban Big Data Centre a public or private company?
Urban Big Data Centre is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Urban Big Data Centre founded?
Urban Big Data Centre was founded in 2014. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Urban Big Data Centre based?
Urban Big Data Centre is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Urban Big Data Centre make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Research Funding and Grants are the primary driver. The others are data Licensing and Services.
Who are Urban Big Data Centre's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Urban Institute, Open Data Institute (ODI), Centre for Cities and Future Cities Catapult (Connected Places Catapult). Direct peers are Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (UCL), MIT Senseable City Lab, New York University Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and The Alan Turing Institute. Data & Society is listed as an emerging player. Smart Cities Council is listed as an others.
Does Urban Big Data Centre have an API?
Yes. UBDC provides a CCTV Object Detection API that enables access to counts of pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles, and other objects detected from CCTV cameras in Glasgow City Council area. The API documentation is available at cctv-api.csgtechnical.com/docs/. Additionally, UBDC provides data through its Data Catalogue platform (data.ubdc.ac.uk) which provides access to various datasets including Adzuna job listings, Zoopla property data, Huq mobile data, transport data, and environmental data. Developer documentation is at cctv-api.csgtechnical.com/docs.