Quantifying the City’s Green Area Potential Gain Using Remote Sensing Data

Teresa Santos, José António Tenedório and José Alberto Gonçalves
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Teresa Santos: Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, (FCSH/NOVA), Av. de Berna, 26 C, 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal
José António Tenedório: Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, (FCSH/NOVA), Av. de Berna, 26 C, 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal
José Alberto Gonçalves: CIIMAR Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, Av. General Norton de Matos s/n, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Information about green spaces available in a city is essential for urban planning. Urban green areas are generally assessed through environmental indicators that reflect the city’s quality of life and urban comfort. A methodology based on 3D measure and analysis of green urban areas at the city scale is presented. Two products are proposed: (1) measuring current vegetation cover at ground level through object-oriented classification of WorldView-2 imagery; and (2) estimating potential green cover at rooftop level using 3D data obtained by LiDAR sensor. The methodology, implemented in Lisbon, Portugal, demonstrates that: (1) remote sensing imagery provides powerful tools for master planning and policy analysis regarding green urban area expansion; and (2) measures of urban sustainability cannot be solely based on indicators obtained from 2D geographical information. In fact, 2D urban indicators should be complemented by 3D modelling of geographic data.

Keywords: green urban areas; LiDAR; green roofs; GIS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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