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giscoR

ANALYTICS
Velocity0.0

Download geospatial data from GISCO API - Eurostat

github.com/rOpenGov/giscoR ↗

giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.

eurostatgeospatialropenscir-packagecachinghttr2
◆Current state
giscoR downloads Eurostat GISCO administrative and statistical geodata — countries, NUTS regions, LAUs, urban audit units — as sf objects. The 1.0.0 release in December 2025 rebuilt the package on httr2, preferred GeoPackage downloads, reorganised the cache into topic folders, and moved the dataset database itself into the cache so it can be refreshed independently. Releases since have been a cache-persistence fix, a configurable timeout and an internals refactor.
◆Where it's heading
The package is decoupling itself from Eurostat's publication calendar. Historically each new GISCO vintage required a release that bumped default years and rebuilt an internal dataset; after 1.0.0 a user can call gisco_get_cached_db(update_cache = TRUE) and reach new data without waiting. The follow-up releases are consistent with a project in consolidation — fixing the cache it just introduced, exposing a timeout for slow downloads, and tidying internals.
◆Prediction
With the database now self-updating, expect releases to shift toward download reliability and new GISCO endpoints rather than annual dataset bumps; the timeout option in 1.1.0 suggests large downloads are the current pain point.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    Internal refactor with faster mocked tests

    Internal helpers, roxygen docs and tests are refactored, with download-heavy paths mocked to speed up the suite. User-facing messages get clearer, but nothing changes in what the package returns.

    View source ↗
  2. 4mo ago

    Download timeout becomes configurable

    options(gisco_timeout) exposes the request timeout, defaulting to five minutes, and vignettes move to Quarto alongside an httr2 version bump. Useful for anyone pulling large NUTS or LAU geometries over a slow link.

    View source ↗
  3. 6mo ago

    Cache persistence fixed; urban audit defaults to 2024

    A bug that overwrote the cached database with the internal copy on each new session is fixed, so the cache is finally persistent as 1.0.0 intended. Urban audit accessors also default to the 2024 vintage.

    View source ↗
  4. 7mo ago

    1.0 caches the dataset index so new vintages need no release

    ⚡ SPARK

    The dataset database moves from a static package object into the user's cache and can be refreshed on demand, which breaks the link between Eurostat's release calendar and giscoR's. Existing caches are incompatible and must be rebuilt.

    View source ↗
  5. 1y ago

    Source filtering fixed in gisco_get_lau()

    A single fix for source filtering in the LAU accessor, plus CI housekeeping. Narrow bug fix ahead of the 1.0.0 overhaul.

    View source ↗
  6. 1y ago

    2024 datasets and year arguments for education and healthcare

    NUTS and country accessors gain the 2024 vintage, and the education and healthcare accessors gain a year argument spanning 2020 and 2023. A representative pre-1.0 release — new data required a new package version, which is exactly what 1.0.0 set out to change.

    View source ↗