Very proud to present our concluding paper "Earth observation: An integral part of a smart and sustainable city" in the Journal of Environmental Science & Policy which advocates for the potential of EO to address urban environmental pressures and suggests 6 foundational prerequisites.
Fig. 3. Schematic showing the different impact areas of SMURBS along with indicative, high-level learnings (adapted based on type of impacts suggested by Withyman (2018).
Lately, the novel smart city concept has rapidly evolved and now encompasses the broader aspect of sustainability. Concurrently, there has been a sea change in the domain of Earth observation (EO) where scientific and technological breakthroughs are accompanied by a paradigm shift in the provision of open and free data. The “SMart URBan Solutions for air quality, disasters and city growth” H2020 project (SMURBS/ERA-PLANET) sits at this scientific and policy crossroad, and, by creating bottom-up EO-driven solutions against an array of environmental urban pressures, and by expanding the network of engaged and exemplary smart cities that push the state-of-the-art in EO uptake, brings the international ongoing discussion of EO for sustainable cities closer to home and contributes in this discussion. This paper advocates for EO as an integral part of a smart and sustainable city and aspires to lead by example.
This paper advocates for EO as an integral part of a smart and sustainable city and aspires to lead by example. It is hosted in theEnvironmental Science & Policy Journal, joining a dedicated special issue that disseminates the main activities and results of SMURBS and the rest of ERA-PLANET projects.
Read the full article here