Fairville - Data collection for inequalities’ impact analysis on political participation and democratic quality

Overview of the Fairville Initiative

Fairville is a European research programme aimed at documenting and piloting urban interventions that enhance resident participation in democratic processes. The project brings together academic researchers, local communities, and authorities to address inequalities that affect political participation and the quality of democracy across eight city‑lab sites: Berlin, Brussels, Călăraşi, Dakar, Giza, London, Marseille, and West Attica. Work Package 1 (WP1) focuses on data collection for analysing how multiple dimensions of inequality impact civic engagement.

Scope of Data Collection

WP1’s Task 1.1 (months 1‑6) gathered documentary evidence covering the past four decades on a wide range of inequalities—income, wealth, employment, gender, disability, ethnicity, age, environmental conditions, and digital exclusion. Sources include 46 global and national datasets, 51 curated “cards” summarising each source, and 214 local resources specific to the eight labs. Data span longitudinal series (some over 30 years) and cross‑sectional snapshots, with geographical coverage ranging from global to sub‑national (e.g., IRIS zones in Marseille, NUTS‑2/3 in Europe).

Key Findings on Inequality

• Income inequality remains the most frequently measured issue (19 sources), followed by employment (9) and wealth (9).
• Gender and health appear in eight sources each, while disability, environmental conditions, and territory‑related inequality are each covered by five sources.
• Longitudinal analyses show rising income and wealth concentration at the top 10 % globally, with the bottom 50 % holding just 2 % of total wealth (World Inequality Report 2022).
• European Union data indicate that, despite overall poverty reduction, the share of income captured by the richest 1 % increased in 59 % of 100 examined countries between 1990 and 2015.

Political Participation and Democratic Quality

Four datasets (cards #47‑#51) assess voter turnout, democratic indices, and civic engagement. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index (2022) classifies 45.3 % of the world’s population as living in some form of democracy, with only 8 % in “full” democracies. Voter turnout has declined across most countries over the last three decades, especially among younger voters, highlighting a growing democratic deficit.

Local‑Level Insights from the Eight Labs

• Marseille: INSEE provides granular IRIS‑level data on housing, education, and population, complemented by thematic maps of priority intervention zones.
• Brussels: Interactive monitoring tools map neighbourhood indicators (income, housing, flood risk) across 145 boroughs.
• Berlin: Eurostat and EUI datasets deliver NUTS‑2/3 statistics on employment, health, and education, while the “Kiezatlas” offers street‑level maps of the Rathausblock area.
• London: The London Datastore supplies open datasets on housing, health, and environmental risk, alongside Just Space’s portal on community‑led planning.
• West Attica: European sub‑regional datasets (Eurostat, EUI) cover income, education, and health, while the Athens Social Atlas visualises inequality and participation at the municipal level.
• Giza: National portals (CAPMAS, Egyptian Survey Authority) deliver census‑based data on poverty, housing, and waste management, with additional climate‑risk maps.
• Dakar: Senegalese census and World Bank flood‑risk maps support analysis of spatial inequality and climate vulnerability.
• Călăraşi: Eurostat and national statistics provide NUTS‑3 level data on socio‑demographics, with a dedicated portal monitoring Roma integration.

Implications for Sustainable Housing

The collated evidence underscores that housing inequality is tightly linked to broader socio‑economic disparities. In Marseille, priority‑area maps identify districts where income falls below the median, guiding affordable‑housing interventions. Brussels’ flood‑risk layers reveal that low‑income neighbourhoods face higher exposure to climate hazards, prompting resilient housing designs. West Attica’s data show high pollution levels co‑existing with limited access to adequate housing, highlighting the need for integrated environmental and housing policies. Across all labs, the emphasis on bottom‑up participatory processes ensures that housing solutions are co‑designed with residents, improving social acceptance and long‑term sustainability.

Access to Resources

All datasets, maps, portals, and scientific publications are listed in Part Two of the deliverable, with hyperlinks connecting each topic to its corresponding card or local resource list. The repository enables researchers, policymakers, and civil‑society actors to retrieve comparable data, conduct cross‑city analyses, and monitor progress toward more equitable and democratic urban housing across Europe and partner regions.