UNDP Accelerates Research on Sustainable CBD Transformation with Dcipher Analytics

The Challenge

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) sought to identify international best practices for low-carbon and sustainable urban transformation of central business districts (CBDs). Their objectives were twofold:

1. Mapping Leading Cases – Identifying CBDs worldwide that had successfully implemented sustainability initiatives.
2. Extracting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Analyzing the metrics used to measure the impact of these transformations.

Traditionally, this type of research would require months of manual literature review, data collection, and analysis—an extensive and time-consuming effort.

The Solution

By leveraging Dcipher Analytics’ AI-powered research agents, UNDP was able to streamline and accelerate their research process:

• Instead of manually searching for relevant CBDs, the platform automatically identified 100 relevant cities for the study.
• To determine key sustainability dimensions, Dcipher Analytics conducted AI-driven content analysis of academic and policy literature, identifying seven critical areas, including infrastructure, technology, public-private partnerships, waste management, green spaces, and traffic control.
• The platform then executed automated research across 700 city-dimension combinations, extracting relevant policies, KPIs, and initiatives from government websites, news articles, and reports.

The Results

• 468 case studies were generated, providing structured insights on sustainability efforts across different CBDs.
• From these, 50 notable best practices were identified as exemplary models for sustainable urban transformation.
• The platform also analyzed recurring themes to highlight key success factors across all sustainability dimensions.

The Impact

By using Dcipher Analytics, UNDP dramatically reduced the time and effort required for this research, transforming a months-long project into an efficient, AI-powered analysis. These insights enabled UNDP to support local governments in adopting best practices for low-carbon and sustainable CBD development, driving impactful policy decisions and urban transformations worldwide.

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