Notebooks Contest | Fabric Data Days

[slindsay]

Return to the Fabric Data Days homepage

Fabric Data Days Notebooks Contest - Cities of Tomorrow

As the world’s population becomes increasingly urban, cities stand at the crossroads of innovation and environmental challenge.

From smart infrastructure to green spaces, from urban sprawl to livability - the story of our cities is written in data.

This month, we invite you to explore that story in the Fabric Community Notebook Challenge: The Cities of Tomorrow – Urban Growth & Sustainability.

Your mission?

Use Fabric Data Science Notebooks to uncover insights about how cities evolve, sustain, and innovate for the future.

⚙️ Challenge Overview

Focus: Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), Predictive Modeling, and Data Storytelling

This challenge is open to data professionals and enthusiasts at all levels - whether you’re exploring notebooks for the first time or refining your data science craft.

📅 Key Dates

Event	Date
Contest Launch	November 4, 2025
Submission Deadline	November 25, 2025
Judging	November 26–30, 2025
Winners Announced	December 4, 2025

📂 Dataset

Primary Dataset: Sustainable Urban Planning & Landscape Dataset – Kaggle

This dataset provides structured data for exploring sustainability, land use, infrastructure, and city-level environmental indicators - perfect for understanding how cities balance growth and livability.

Example columns:
Green Area %, Urban Density, Transport Infrastructure Score, Renewable Energy Index, Pollution Index, Livability Index

Optional Supplementary Sources:

World Bank Urban Development Indicators

UN-Habitat Urban Data Portal

🧠 Your Objective

Create a Fabric Notebook that tells the data story of “The Cities of Tomorrow.”

Your notebook should include:

• Data cleaning and preparation
• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)
• Insight generation and (optional) predictive modeling
• Markdown commentary to explain your findings and conclusions

Your goal is to demonstrate how data science can help us understand - and imagine - more sustainable, livable cities.

📏 Rules

• Use Python or R in Fabric Notebooks.
• All work must be contained in a single .ipynb file.
• Cite all data sources clearly.
• No private or paid datasets.
• Include markdown explanations and conclusions.
• Submit by 11:59 PM Pacific on November 25, 2025.

🧾 Submission Format

Submit your entry to the Notebooks Gallery. You're welcome to submit all code in the gallery if possible, or add a public link to your gallery entry via GitHub, Fabric, Kaggle, or Databricks.

Important: When you submit your entry, be sure to select the "Community Contests" Category so judges can find your entry!

File name format: Nov2025_[YourName]_CitiesOfTomorrow.ipynb

🧮 Judging Criteria (50 Points Total)

Category	Points	Description
Data Cleaning & Preparation	10	How well you handled missing data, transformations, and data quality
Exploratory Analysis	10	Depth of insights, variety of visuals, and use of statistics
Modeling / Advanced Analysis	10	(Optional) Modeling accuracy, creativity, and relevance
Storytelling & Clarity	10	Markdown explanations, narrative flow, and interpretation
Creativity & Impact	10	Unique insights, innovative metrics, and visual design quality

👩‍⚖️ Judging Panel

Your work will be reviewed by analytics community leaders and experts:

• Bhanu Guatam - Microsoft Fabric Super User and Data Analyst at Gartner
• Kevin Periera - Microsoft Fabric Specialist and Solutions Architect at SHI International
• Samson Truong - Microsoft Fabric Super User and Data and Analytics Supervisor at RSM US LLP

🏅 Recognition

Participants are competing for a chance to:

• Be featured on the Fabric Community
• Win exclusive Fabric Swag
• And for the best prize of all, bragging rights!

💬 Story Prompts

Need inspiration? Explore questions like:

• How do green areas relate to pollution or livability across cities?
• Which cities balance population growth and sustainability best?
• Can we cluster cities by sustainability maturity using machine learning?
• What does a “smart, livable city” look like - according to the data?

🚀 How to Participate

• Download the dataset (and optional sources).
• Open a new Fabric Notebook (Python or R).
• Explore, analyze, visualize - and tell your story.
• Submit your entry in the Notebooks gallery on the Fabric Community.

That’s it! You’ll learn, connect, and maybe even inspire the next vision for The Cities of Tomorrow. 🌆

[SamsonTruong]

Excited to see what the community puts together!

[Nabha-Ahmed]

Really love this!!! Cities of tomorrow start with the data of today

I excited to share my result

[sazidthe1]

Super excited for this challenge. Can't wait to join this Fabric Data Days Notebooks contest!

[abhi03]

In the cotest already. Tried entering my notbook, had to make few edits and it mentioned its waiting for approval. I tried entering another post that got marked as spam. Any help with this matter will be appreciated. Thanks !

[slindsay]

@abhi03 - I'll take a look! Please send me a private message if you don't see your result posted by the end of Monday.

[GaganHonor]

Thanks for this opportunity 🎉