Operationalising Earth Observation for Urban Planning and Policymaking

Session Title: 

Operationalising Earth Observation for urban planning and policymaking

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Focus:

Cities are central to addressing interconnected environmental and societal challenges, from local extreme heat, poor air quality, flooding, and green space loss to broader needs for climate adaptation and while maintaining quality of life. Simultaneously, the growing availability of Earth Observation (EO) data, e.g., from Copernicus Sentinel missions and other public and private providers, as well as EO-derived products, offer opportunities to monitor, understand, and manage urban change. Yet, many cities still struggle to translate these data into actionable insights for planning and urban management. Data often remain siloed, tools are too technical for routine use, and integrated approaches connecting EO with local decision-making are limited.

This special session will examine how EO can be transformed into actionable knowledge for urban planning, climate adaptation, and city management. It will highlight recent advances, challenges, and opportunities for integrated and policy-relevant urban EO approaches, with attention to applications across urban form, infrastructure and service provision, accessibility, greening and public space, climate adaptation and mitigation, health and wellbeing, and equity. The session will address gaps and trade-offs in current EO products and workflows, including global versus local applicability, top-down and bottom-up approaches, validation strategies, and uneven coverage and utilisation across regions.