2020.11.18 edition
Global inequality. The World Inequality Database “aims to provide open and convenient access to the most extensive available database on the historical evolution of the world distribution of income and wealth, both within countries and between countries.” The project, co-directed by Thomas Piketty, published a major update last week, expanding its geographic and temporal coverage. The data points vary by country; you can download them interactively or in bulk. Previously: Frederick Solt’s Standardized World Income Inequality Database (DIP 2019.12.04) and the United Nations University’s World Income Inequality Database (DIP 2016.06.01).
Urban traffic. Researchers from ETH Zurich’s Institute for Transport Planning and Systems have assembled 170 million observations of traffic intensity on urban roads, registered by 23,000+ detection points in 40 cities, “making it the largest multi-city traffic dataset publically available.” The cities are mostly in Western Europe, but also include Tokyo, Taipei, Melbourne, Vilnius, Los Angeles, and Toronto. [h/t ddechamb]
Education and civil rights. For decades, the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection has compiled “data on key education and civil rights issues in our nation’s public schools,” including “student enrollment and educational programs and services, most of which is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency, and disability.” Last month, the department released the CRDC for the 2017–18 school year. Related: ProPublica has used CRDC data to investigate racial inequality and the use of restraints and seclusions. [h/t Andrew McCartney]
State spending on kids. A new dataset from the Urban Institute “provides a comprehensive accounting of public spending on children from 1997 through 2016.” Drawing on the US Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and other sources, the dataset summarizes “state-by-state spending on education, income security, health, and other areas.” [h/t Erica Greenberg]
Yet more urban trees. DIP editions 2016.11.16 and 2018.08.08 featured datasets of trees in NYC and other cities. But wait, there’s more: millions of trees in Bogotá, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Dublin. [h/t Juan Pablo Marín Díaz + Ana Lucía González + Cormac O’Keeffe + Topi Tjukanov + Tuija Sonkkila + Martin Bangratz + Sanne Hombroek + u/cavedave]