[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6472\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EDisused factories and satellites helping thwart urban sprawl\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003EEurope\u2019s populations have been migrating to cities in increasing numbers since the Industrial Revolution, and in response modern suburban neighbourhoods have grown around the old city centres in a process known as urban sprawl.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn France, the percentage of the population living in urban areas has increased from 62 % in 1960 to 80 % in 2015, while in Germany the increase was from 71 % to 75 % and in the UK it rose from 78 % to 83 %, according to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Edata\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;from the World Bank.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Are there vacant urban lands that can be identified and used, rather than simply expanding into the countryside?\u2019 said Tomas Soukup, a senior consultant in remote sensing applications at Czech geo-information services firm GISAT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe is coordinating URBIS, an EU-funded research project which is using open geospatial data from the European satellite earth observation programme Copernicus to show policymakers and planners where the disused factories and unused parking lots are that could be turned into new housing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The aim is to reduce new development in natural areas, or greenfield sites, and to try to concentrate on more efficient land use in the cities,\u2019 Soukup said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat could mean reusing open urban land, or redeveloping urban spaces that no longer suit their previous use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith data from sources such as the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/land.copernicus.eu\/local\/urban-atlas\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003ECopernicus Urban Atlas\u003C\/a\u003E, planners can use the system to identify features such as parking lots, pavements and roads, or even to pick out green areas or water resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoukup said the three-year project, which runs until 2017, has also developed services that allow users to identify and assess urban areas using various characteristics of their land-use potential for future development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We can also look at the context of the city, so we see not only the potential for further development, but also how this potential has been used in previous years,\u2019 Soukup said. \u2018So we can see how the city really evolved over a period of time.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the URBIS system provides information about the physical aspects of urban development, these are not the only considerations in urban expansion and in deciding how land is used. Other EU-funded research projects, such as Dr Vera Vicenzotti\u2019s SPRAWLESCAPES, are considering the impact of culture in planning, urban landscape and expansion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDiscourse\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The discourse around urban sprawl is often very quantitative and I think it is important to emphasise the importance of the cultural and aesthetic issues,\u2019 said Dr Vicenzotti, who is based in the Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018The aim is to reduce new development in natural areas.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ETomas Soukup, GISAT, Czech Republic\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you think in terms of sustainability \u2013 economy, ecology and social issues \u2013 depending on how you define social issues, culture and aesthetics are often ignored,\u2019 she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Vicenzotti says that, given her studies comparing Germany and Sweden, she believes it is important for people to learn from each other, but that there is no one-size-fits-all way to achieve sustainable urban development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you want to plan sustainably and rely on a general model, you may not see certain things that are very important for the people who live in this landscape,\u2019 Dr Vicenzotti said. Even the understanding of terms such as \u2018urban sprawl\u2019 and relations to the landscape, can differ widely, given the underlying culture and history.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy addressing differences and similarities in approaches to the discourse of urban sprawl within planning, Dr Vicenzotti hopes to contribute to the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.coe.int\/en\/web\/landscape\/home\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEuropean Landscape Convention\u003C\/a\u003E, set up to promote the\u0026nbsp;protection, management and planning of European landscapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-ycg0vfkbekyb0c-ynrtdzo-1o0fagbil9cal765ac-0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-YcG0vfkbEkyB0C-ynRTDzo_1o0FAgBIl9cal765aC-0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]