Data and organisations tend to be biased towards larger and wealthier cities, and concentrated in Europe and North America. The review indicates datasets are populated using inconsistent methodologies and metrics and have poor overlap of cities between them. Resulting datasets are analysed for data types, collection method, and the distribution of contributing cities across climates, population sizes, and wealth. An initial scoping review of existing English-language datasets and networks is performed.

This paper examines the feasibility of aggregating empirical data relating to sustainability and health for global cities.

However, there is currently sparse empirical evidence on the degree to which city characteristics are associated with variations in health-related exposures, behaviours and sustainability. Improving sustainability may also provide opportunities for urban population health co-benefits by reducing unhealthy exposures and behaviours. Cities are therefore critical for achieving national and international sustainability objectives, such as greenhouse gas reduction. Globally, urban populations are growing rapidly, and in most cases their demands for resources are beyond current limits of sustainability.

Economic bias of global city rankings