Traditionally, satellite data has been used for monitoring weather or disasters, for navigation and surveillance for defense and intelligence. Now, the SPACE4Cities project is exploring new horizons by investigating how space technologies could benefit European cities in preparing for climate change.
The ten winning concepts selected by SPACE4Cities are developing space technology solutions for common challenges in European cities, such as detecting floods and heat islands, reducing traffic emissions, preventing wildfire risks, protecting cultural heritage sites, tracing underground pipe leaks and monitoring the condition and changes of green spaces, bridges and roads.
“We are extremely pleased with the innovativeness of the winning solutions. I believe that many of them will be in use in cities around Europe in the near future. There is a lot of potential for efficiency gains and cost savings,” says the Project Coordinator, Renske Martijnse-Hartikka from the City of Helsinki innovation company, Forum Virium Helsinki.
Seven of the winners are individual companies while three consist of a consortium of multiple companies. The companies come from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
In July 2026, the five best prototypes will be awarded development funding of €250,000 and the opportunity to pilot in real-life situations in fifteen European cities, including Amsterdam, Athens, Ghent, Guimarães and Helsinki. After the piloting phase, in spring 2027, the solutions are expected to be ready for wider commercialisation.
Winning Companies and their Solutions
- Vexiza (Spain): “AI-WUIFIRE” – Prevention of wildfire risks
- eOnsight (France): “CHERISH” – Protection of cultural heritage sites
- Detektia (Spain): “CityMotion” – Detection of ground elevation differences
- Latitudo 40, Planetek and Teamdev (Italy): “CLIMAPS” – Detection of heat islands, floods, and extreme weather events
- Everimpact (France): “DYNAMO-SM” – Traffic emission reductions
- Survintel (Netherlands) and Gisaia (France): “GeoRisk Monitor” – Monitoring of the condition of bridges, roads, and railways
- Optim.aize (France): “OPTIM-Green” – Strategic planning of urban green spaces
- Neptune (Italy): “URBAN LENS” – Tracing of underground pipe leaks
- CEiiA (Portugal): “UrbanRoots” – Monitoring the condition and changes of green spaces
- BitaGreen (Belgium), Climate Scale (Spain) and TreeSense (Germany): “VISTA” – Management of green areas and biodiversity
SPACE4Cities, funded by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) via European Union’s Horizon Europe innovation programme, aims to harness European satellite data to solve urban challenges and create more sustainable urban environments.
The project is implemented by the City of Helsinki Innovation Company, Forum Virium Helsinki (Finland), City of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Municipality of Guimarães (Portugal), the Regional Development Fund of Attica (Greece), the City of Ghent’s digital innovation and technology organisation, District09 (Belgium), Open & Agile Smart Cities & Communities network (OASC) and Europe’s leading aerospace cluster Aerospace Valley (France).
More information:
Renske Martijnse-Hartikka
EU Project Manager, SPACE4Cities Project Coordinator
Tel. +358 40 683 7979
renske.martijnse-hartikka@forumvirium.fi
space4cities.eu