Open Data · head-to-head
Umeå Open Data vs Urban Observatory
Umeå's open-data portal runs on the OpenDataSoft platform, publishing the Swedish city's GIS, transit, and municipal datasets through the standard ODS Explore v2.1 API. Every dataset can be queried, filtered, and exported as JSON, CSV, or GeoJSON with no authentication required for public data.
Urban Observatory, run by Newcastle University, streams one of the UK's largest real-time urban sensor networks, covering air quality, traffic, flooding, and weather, from thousands of fixed and mobile sensors across Newcastle and partner cities. Its v2 API is fully keyless and exposes sensor locations and readings as JSON, CSV, or Shapefile, with bounding-box filtering for GIS tools. It's an academic, publicly funded service with no commercial tiers.
| Umeå Open Data | Urban Observatory | |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | None | None |
| Pricing | free | free |
| Formats | JSON, CSV, GeoJSON | JSON, CSV, Shapefile |
| CORS | yes | no |
| HTTPS | Yes | Yes |
Umeå Open Data supports CORS, while Urban Observatory doesn't — pick Umeå Open Data for direct browser calls.