Green cities use space to boost wellbeing
Urban greenery can improve air quality and promote wellbeing. ESA is working with municipal authorities to identify how space can help to create sustainable cities in which people are healthier, happier and more productive.
Discover how space can help to boost the physical and mental health of city dwellers in an hour-long webinar to be held on 25 March.
ESA is using satellites to monitor the extent of woods and forests in urban areas. It aims to produce consistent and statistically reliable information on the presence of trees, by combining multi-spectral satellite data and synthetic-aperture radar data along with artificial intelligence.
The resulting information can be used by city planners, architects and forestry companies to monitor and maintain urban greenery at an affordable price.
Bergamo, a highly industrialised city in north Italy, is participating in a pilot project. Marzia Marchesi and William Senna, who supervise green spaces and urban development at the Municipality of Bergamo, will tell the audience how the city authorities are using ESA Earth observation data to benefit the lives of their citizens.
Marco Marchetti, president of Alberi Italia, a nature advocacy group, and professor at the Università del Molise in Campobasso, Italy, will explain the importance of ecosystem services in urban areas, together with Marcello Maranesi, chief executive officer at Rome-based geospatical data company GMATICS.
ESA staff will elaborate on the cooperation between the Earth Observation Programmes Directorate, represented by Guenther Landgraf and Stefano Ferretti, who are working on digital platforms aggregating Earth observation and in-situ data to manage green areas in a sustainable manner, and the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate, where Roberta Mugellesi Dow is preparing a commercially oriented call for people seeking to develop innovative services for green and sustainable cities. They will be joined by Ilaria Zilioli from ESA’s Legal Department.
To find out how space can help to make cities greener and more sustainable, register for the hour-long webinar “Space for Twin Cities: Green and Sustainable Cities” to be held on 25 March at 17:00 CET. The event is organised by the ESA Downstream Gateway.