Urban Atlas exposition

Directorate General Enterprise and the GMES Bureau is organising an exhibition on Urban Atlas from 15th till 30th April in the Berlaymont Piazza.

URBAN ATLAS is a digital mapping tool providing pan-European, reliable and inter-comparable urban planning data.

Compiled from thousands of pictures from European satellites, Urban Atlas provides sufficient coverage for detailed and cost-effective mapping of larger urban zones, yielding accurate land cover and usage data. Urban Atlas’ mission is to provide high-resolution hotspot mapping of changes in urban spaces and indicators for users such as city governments, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and European Commission departments. More than 300 major cities in the EU will be covered by early 2011.

Maps are available at http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/urban-atlas.

Sustainable urban development for climate change, too

Urban Atlas has numerous applications including a deeper understanding of climate change. It can highlight where, for example, industrial and suburban expansion is encroaching on greenbelts and farmland which typically encircle Europe’s cities. It can highlight uncontrolled urban sprawl, potentially threatening delicate ecosystems in the urban fringe.

It therefore contributes to smart, green, sustainable urban development in Europe, thanks to its up-to-date, reliable, comparable and, importantly, affordable data and maps.

The objective of this exhibition is to familiarise the audience with the potential use of satellite images in the GMES context.

Urban Atlas in the GMES context

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) establishes a European capacity in the increasingly important field of Earth Observation. The main aim of the initiative is to monitor and better understand our environment (land, marine, and atmosphere) and to contribute to the security of every citizen.

 

Exhibition registration