Courtesy Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

What do Prague, Leipzig, Cork, Ljepaja, Poznan, Nice, Glasgow, Venice or Gozo have in common? Whether big or small, European cities need reliable and comparable urban planning information for safe, sustainable and prosperous development. This year, for the first time, 185 cities from all 27 EU Member States, will benefit from the "Urban Atlas", which has been produced by the European Commission and Member States with the support of European space technology. Compiled from thousands of satellite photographs, the Urban Atlas provides detailed and cost-effective digital mapping, ensuring that city planners have the most up-to-date and accurate data available on land use and land cover. The Urban Atlas will enable urban planners to better assess risks and opportunities, ranging from threat of flooding and impact of climate change, to identifying new infrastructure and public transport needs. All cities in the EU will be covered by the Urban Atlas by 2011.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise and Industry, and Commissioner Danuta Hübner, responsible for Regional Policy, said: "European cities and municipal authorities face significant new challenges for future urban planning in the coming years and this project provides a practical and cost-effective solution for their needs. Through the use of European space technology we will open up possibilities for mutual learning from a land use perspective and help cities to make more informed investment decisions. The Urban Atlas demonstrates the benefit of an integrated European approach and is an excellent example of how space based applications contribute to local solutions across Europe."

The Urban Atlas is part of the implementation of the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (GMES) service. It is financed with the support of 1 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and full operability is foreseen for 2011.

to economies of scale, the mapping cost of EUR 2.45 per square km yields at least a tenfold reduction of costs compared to other mapping methodologies. The Urban Atlas maps provide a pan-European classification of city zones, allowing for comparable information on density of residential areas, commercial and industrial zones, extent of green areas, exposure to flood risks and monitoring of urban sprawl which is important for public transport planning in suburban areas.

The first edition of the Urban Atlas will be delivered in 2009 to 185 cities (see Annex for a complete list). The Urban Atlas covers all EU capitals and a large sample of large and medium-sized cities participating in the European Urban Audit, a data collection covering over 300 cities in the EU. Future editions of the Urban Atlas are planned in 3-5 year intervals, to complement the Urban Audit exercise. The Urban Audit is co-financed by the European Commission and managed in close consultation with National Statistical Institutes in all EU Member States..