Cities occupy only 2% of the earth’s surface, but emit more than 70% of greenhouse gases and consume more than 60 % of energy. They are therefore the battlefield on which to mitigate global warming and improve our efficiency, and in the face of an increasingly urban world population, places that must adapt to the possible consequences of climate change. To help in the transition to more sustainable cities and with greater well-being, a European project has lighted up the Decumanus technology, which combines satellite images, the Internet of Things, Big Data, and the processing and analysis of the data, so that local administrations and citizens can monitor in great detail the quality of the air or the energy efficiency of their streets and neighborhoods, and make the appropriate decisions.

Specifically, the Decumanus initiative measures up to 90 indicators on seven major issues: urban climate, air quality, impact on citizen health, control of energy efficiency, land use, impact on the population, and water quality. With these wickers, the tool promises to be able to find out the most polluted areas of the city, identify environmental sources of health problems, study the distribution of green areas, or identify if the services that a neighborhood receives are adequate based on its connectivity with other districts. . The system could also detect specific buildings with low energy efficiency, and calculate the cost and savings of their rehabilitation. However, the tool is designed to carry out simulations and find out the effects of specific measures and policies to reduce CO2 emissions, improve energy efficiency, sustainability and well-being.

The project, funded by the Seventh Framework Program (FP7) of the European Union, has been led by the technological multinational Indra with the participation of the Federation of European Municipalities, the companies Eurosense, Geoville and Controlware of the German Aerospace Center , and the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the University of the West of England. The technology has been tested in a pilot project carried out in Madrid, London, Milan, Antwerp and Helsinki, with the collaboration of the respective authorities.