Cities use a wide range of data sources in their urban management, but satellite data is widely under-used and not well-known. Space-based applications are already being used to some extent to manage public urban areas and infrastructure, but proof-of-concepts and standards are rarely available, or the solutions do not meet the needs of the cities. Furthermore, some parts of satellite- and space-based services need to reach a more mature stage in their development in order to be employable in urban settings. In other words, development and demonstration of the technical and economic maturity of innovative, space-based solutions is required.
For this reason, SPACE4Cities was set up: a large Pre-Commercial Procurement project that aims to procure replicable solutions, via smart use of European satellite data, for better and more dynamic management of public space, green areas, transport infrastructure and city maintenance—and the cities’ overall resilience. The SPACE4Cities project has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and is part of the EUSPA portfolio. In total, the project budget reaches 5.2 million euros, of which 2.87 M€ is allocated for the Pre-Commercial Procurement to be used to procure innovative solutions from participating suppliers from around Europe.
In summary, the objectives of the project are to bring radical improvements to the quality and efficiency of public services through better use of space data. We’ll do so by conducting a joint Pre-Commercial Procurement to dynamize the market for satellite-based applications and public procurement. We also aim for a shorter time-to-market, facilitating the access of SMEs and startups to the procurement market and increased exploitation of IPRs and R&D results.
As part of SPACE4Cities, the 5 winning companies or consortia will develop different, replicable, commercially viable, and highly innovative solutions that provide actionable insights and go beyond the State-of-the-Art. These will lead to 5 high-visibility pilots in Buyers’ Group cities: Amsterdam, Attica region, Ghent, Guimarães and Helsinki as well as 10 smaller pilots in so-called Replicator cities. We aim for uptake of the project results across European cities via peer learning and capacity building within at least 50 Follower cities.
