The Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) is charged with helping to build the knowledge base that government, business, labour, civil society and citizens require. It collects data and benchmarks the city-region, provides policy analysis and support, undertakes applied research, and publishes critically reflective academic work.

The GCRO was established in 2008 as a partnership between the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government, with local government in Gauteng also represented on the GCRO Board. Though it is a partnership between these players, it is formally constituted as a Wits research centre and is based at Wits. Behind the motivation for setting up the GCRO is a vision for South Africa's economic heartland as a region that is competitive, spatially integrated, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.