Sustainable territorial and local development

Cities can now obtain data on land use and land cover using Urban Atlas, a digital mapping tool hosted by the European Environment Agency.

The initiative aims at monitoring and interpreting accurate information on the density.of residential, commercial and industrial zones, the extent of green areas, the exposure to flood risks and any other urban transformations.

Thanks to an extensive database of high-resolution maps, urban planners are thus able to better understand climate change risks, determine new infrastructure and transport needs and thus contribute to the security of citizens.

Currently, the digital atlas includes urban areas from 185 cities, including the 27 EU member state capitals. All cities are expected to be covered by the Urban Atlas by 2011.

The land monitoring project is developed under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), a joint initiative of the European Commission and member states using space technology provided by the European Space Agency.

Urban Atlas maps will be displayed at an exhibition at the European Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium, from 15 to 30 April.