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The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) is an interdisciplinary research innovation hub which brings together researchers from across campus to integrate spatial modeling and urban science to solve some of our communities most challenging problems. Founded in 2001, CURA has spent over two decades working with partners to solve complex geographic problems. As part of the College of Arts and Sciences, CURA boasts a strong interdisciplinary nature and works with multiple departments, schools and colleges across campus. We possess strong technical expertise in transportation, housing, and geo-demographics. If you would like to consult with us about your research project, please fill in your details on our Request for Help form.

Our services are provided to clients on campus and in the community. In a fee-for-service context, CURA charges an hourly rate and provides a detailed project proposal that defines the scope of work, budget, and timeline. Alternatively, CURA may participate in the development of proposals to secure grant funding, with faculty serving as co-investigators for relevant portions of the research.

CURA specializes in: 

  • Geospatial Data Integration
  • Geospatial Analytics
  • Urban Data Analytics
  • Mobility Analytics
  • Community Engaged Research
  • Customized Tool and Application Development
  • Digitization and Georeferencing
  • Geocoding
  • Geospatial Network Analysis
  • GIS Customization and Automation
  • Mapping

Facilities & Resources

CURA has extensive computing facilities which are optimized for geospatial analysis. The flagship of our computing infrastructure consists of three physical servers which are housed at the State of Ohio Datacenter. Each of these servers is provisioned with 756GB RAM, 28 processor cores, a Tesla P100 12GB graphics processing unit, and 120TB of disk storage.

To handle cases where CURA’s standard infrastructure cannot accommodate a project due to special requirements, CURA maintains a close relationship with the College of Arts and Sciences Technology Services (ASCTech).  With the help of ASCTech, CURA staff can provision application-specific virtual machines. This allows for nearly unlimited on-demand customization of our computing infrastructure.  In addition to the centralized infrastructure already described, CURA manages nine high-performance workstations that are available for analysts and developers to use for project work, including a specialized workstation with 40 processor cores and 64GB RAM. All of our workstations are equipped with the latest Esri ArcGIS products and a suite of other commercial and open source GIS software. 

Graduate students, undergraduate students and staff at CURA promote the use of emerging data resources and methodological approaches in geo-visualization and spatial analysis. The Center works to facilitate affiliates’ access to high performance computing environments, both internal and external. Additionally, CURA provides consultation on the design and optimal access of complex, interdisciplinary data sources often characterized by multilevel and multi-modal structures – including access schemes involving multi-site/multi-user arrangements.

Pricing and Fees

CURA charges a flat rate of $75 per hour. We will work with you to develop a detailed and structured project proposal, breaking down the scope of work and provide you with an estimated total cost.