Big Data for Urban Studies: Opportunities and Challenges: A Comparative Perspective

A city is a complex system with complicated interactions between transport, land use, environment, population at a variety of scales. Understanding these interactions is the prerequisite for predicting urban changes, supporting sustainable urban development planning. In this paper, we divide the evolution of urban data into four stages. Then the opportunities of big data (new stage) for urban studies application are explored, followed by case studies from both the UK, China. The main challenges are evaluated, the solutions to which are further discussed, compared between both countries.