Space for Cities: Satellite Applications Enhancing Quality of Life in Urban Areas

Abstract

Globally, 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. In Europe, 72% of people live in cities, and this percentage is expected to rise to 80% by 2050. Cities are the powerhouses of economic growth, innovation and employment. Nevertheless, growing urban agglomerations also generate challenges in terms of physical and administrative infrastructures, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and health. As growing urbanisation is challenging the way we live and interact with the natural environment, Eurisy launched an initiative to promote the use of satellite applications to make our cities healthier, cleaner, safer, and more efficient. The initiative aims to foster the exchange of expertise and know-how among city managers, SMEs and stakeholders, to identify challenges to the access and use satellite data and signals, and to make recommendations to service providers, space agencies and stakeholders on how to facilitate the use of satellite-based services at the city level. Indeed, satellite imagery is already employed by city managers, for example to identify urban heat islands, to make predictions about the impact of different traffic scenarios on air quality and to intervene on areas where construction materials retain too much heat. Satellite navigation is crucial in providing real-time information on public transport and numerous apps rely today on satellite navigation signals, e.g. to help persons with disabilities in their daily movements. Satellite communication is also used in cities, e.g. to connect rescue teams when other connections are down, or to perform health checks in public spaces. Satellites alone cannot fight global warming or inequalities, but they offer data and signals that can improve life in cities and that should hence be fully exploited. Through the “Space for Cities” initiative, Eurisy aims at promoting the use of satellite-based services to make our cities healthier, safer, more inclusive and resilient, as envisaged by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.