Urban planning

"According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, urban planning is the 'design and regulation of the uses of space that focus on the physical form, economic functions, and social impacts of the urban environment and on the location of different activities within it. Because urban planning draws upon engineering, architectural, and social and political concerns, it is variously a technical profession, an endeavour involving political will and public participation, and an academic discipline'. A science that can be studied from different points of view, which at the same time are complementary, such as architecture, law, geography, economics or sociology." (Biblioteca Universitat Oberta de Cataluna, 2024)

“Globally, more people now live in urban than in rural areas. Urban populations are also expected to continue to grow, so that by 2050 approximately two thirds of the world's population will be urban. With increasing and sometimes rapid urbanization, cities frequently face challenges with housing, water, sanitation, electricity, crime, pollution and transportation.

Space-based technologies provide unique tools for planning socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements. Central government policymakers, mayors, city planners, engineers and landscape architects are among those who use remote sensing tools that measure and monitor existing patterns of land use and infrastructure development. Not only does this data inform decision makers about current urban projects, complex models can also be constructed to predict future trends in human settlements and urbanization.” (UNOOSA, 2019)

Sources

Biblioteca Universitat Oberta de Cataluna. 2024. "City Management and Urban Planning." https://biblioteca.uoc.edu/en/biblioguides/biblioguide/City-management-and-urban-planning/ [Accessed October 9, 2024]

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, UNOOSA. 2019. "Benefits of Space: Human Settlements." http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/benefits-of-space/human-settlements.html [Accessed February 21, 2019]

Related Content

Article

Using remote sensing to support water-sensitive urban design

Introduction

With the rapid advancement of urbanization, urban water environments are facing unprecedented challenges (Chen et al. 2015). The continuous expansion of impervious surfaces has disrupted the natural water cycle, resulting in rapid stormwater runoff, increased frequency of urban flooding, and reduced groundwater recharge. At the same time, worsening water pollution and the intensifying urban heat island effect further highlight the limitations of traditional urban planning and design in adapting to hydrological systems.

遥感技术在水敏感城市设计中的应用

Translated by Dr. Mengyi Jin

引言

随着城市化的快速推进,城市水环境正面临前所未有的挑战 (Chen et al. 2015)。城市地表不透水面的持续扩张削弱了自然雨水循环,导致降雨径流迅速汇集,增加了内涝发生的频率,也降低了雨水对地下水的补给能力。同时,水体污染以及城市热岛效应的加剧,进一步暴露出传统城市规划对水文系统适应性的不足。在气候变化背景下,极端降雨、干旱等事件的发生频率和强度不断上升,这些现象正严峻考验着城市对水资源的调蓄、排涝、净化和生态恢复等能力。

在这个背景下,水敏感城市设计(Water Sensitive Urban Design, WSUD)作为一种新型城市发展模式被广泛关注。与“低影响开发”(Low Impact Development, LID)理念相似, 水敏感城市设计强调模拟自然水循环过程,并提升城市应对水资源相关挑战的韧性。其核心目标在于将水资源视为城市系统中不可或缺的组成部分,通过系统性地管理水的收集、输送、处理与储存过程,实现其生态功能与社会功能的有机融合(Wong 2006)。

Interview with Padmi Ranasinghe, Doctoral student in Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of Texas (UT) - Arlington

Padmi is currently reading for her Ph.D. focusing on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for climate change risk reduction and resilience cities. She believes NbS can reduce hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods, droughts, and landslides in the long run. It is a strategy to minimize the gaps in decarbonizing and reducing greenhouse gases and a path to Net-zero cities. NbS, are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, benefiting people and nature (IUCN & World Bank, 2022). Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR), ecosystem-based mitigation (EbM), and green infrastructure are some branches under the umbrella of NbS. NbS include conserving forests, mangroves, and wetland ecosystems, halting deforestation, increasing reforestation, climate-smart agriculture, and opening green spaces. According to her, space technology is integral to planning, monitoring, and analysis. Space technology today is so advanced that it can capture and predict changes in the water cycle, climate change variables and so forth. Remote sensing data and satellite-derived information are essential in obtaining accurate data on a specific site anywhere on the Earth's surface. Most recently, she has been involved in projects utilizing urban NbS such as the conservation of Ramsar-Colombo to mitigate urban floods and adapt to climate change. To conduct wetland inventories, space-based data and GIS techniques can be utilized to detect the presence of wetlands and/or water in wetlands. Though there can be some challenges encountered such as limited coverage of specific areas within the wetland, clouds often hiding images, and the low resolution of data making it difficult to differentiate floral species. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) can provide enhanced accuracy and consistency in measuring wetlands, as well as the presence of water in wetlands, using space technologies. Data and technologies from space contribute to watershed management, sediment measurements and many other environmental aspects.

ESA Incubed Portugal National call - EO for Municipalities

The Portuguese Space Agency has launched a call for innovative projects that could help modernise Portuguese cities using Earth Observation (EO) space technologies. This call is part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) InCubed (Investing in Industrial Innovation) programme, which provides co-funding for the development of innovative products and services that use Earth Observation (EO) data and are commercially viable. This dedicated InCubed call will support projects totalling 1.5 million euros.

Interview with Padmi Ranasinghe, Doctoral student in Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of Texas (UT) - Arlington

Padmi is currently reading for her Ph.D. focusing on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for climate change risk reduction and resilience cities. She believes NbS can reduce hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods, droughts, and landslides in the long run. It is a strategy to minimize the gaps in decarbonizing and reducing greenhouse gases and a path to Net-zero cities. NbS, are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, benefiting people and nature (IUCN & World Bank, 2022). Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR), ecosystem-based mitigation (EbM), and green infrastructure are some branches under the umbrella of NbS. NbS include conserving forests, mangroves, and wetland ecosystems, halting deforestation, increasing reforestation, climate-smart agriculture, and opening green spaces. According to her, space technology is integral to planning, monitoring, and analysis. Space technology today is so advanced that it can capture and predict changes in the water cycle, climate change variables and so forth. Remote sensing data and satellite-derived information are essential in obtaining accurate data on a specific site anywhere on the Earth's surface. Most recently, she has been involved in projects utilizing urban NbS such as the conservation of Ramsar-Colombo to mitigate urban floods and adapt to climate change. To conduct wetland inventories, space-based data and GIS techniques can be utilized to detect the presence of wetlands and/or water in wetlands. Though there can be some challenges encountered such as limited coverage of specific areas within the wetland, clouds often hiding images, and the low resolution of data making it difficult to differentiate floral species. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) can provide enhanced accuracy and consistency in measuring wetlands, as well as the presence of water in wetlands, using space technologies. Data and technologies from space contribute to watershed management, sediment measurements and many other environmental aspects.

Event

Stakeholder

Digital Earth Africa

Digital Earth Africa is empowering countries across Africa with Earth observation to enable climate adaptation and mitigation, greater food security and more sustainable development.

DE Africa offers an operational data infrastructure making current and historical, analysis-ready satellite data freely available and openly accessible for the entire continent. This further enables turning raw data into decision-ready products to inform policy and drive action.