Earth Observation and Open Geodata for Sustainable Urban Planning – A Practical Case Study from the City of Munich, Germany

Cities are hot spots of development and urbanization is a persistently ongoing phenomenon worldwide. Also in Germany, where the urbanization rate is already at the high level of 80%, the ongoing shift towards cities puts increasing pressure on land use and urban planning. The challenge of competing land uses is particularly evident in densely built-up urban areas and their immediate surroundings, where housing, industry, transportation, and open spaces compete for limited space already in the planning phase. In this study, we investigate a major urban development project by the city of Munich which aims to create a completely new urban district for up to 30,000 new residents. At present, the project has been approved by the city council, and an initial draft plan is already available. This plan is undergoing further review in various areas (e.g., transport, climate, ecology) in order to refine the draft. The practical implementation of the project is scheduled for the 2030s. To support the ongoing debates on the practical design of the new district, we utilize Earth Observation data with very-high spatial resolution in combination with open geodata to investigate the current status of land use and land cover (LULC) within the study area, as well as the entire city of Munich. On this basis, we focus on the analysis of new urban development areas that were finalized during the past decade in Munich, which serve as practical examples of potential construction in the new district. The effect on LULC is not only illustrated visually but also evaluated quantitatively based on geospatial data. In addition to the analysis of changes in LULC, we also provide a statistical estimate of the resulting living space for the new residents based on Earth Observation and other geodata. Finally, the study examines possible implementations not only of built-up areas, but also developments and potential changes in open spaces. With this set of data, methods, and geoinformation, this study makes a contribution to the discussion on the design and implementation of new urban development projects. It is applicable to projects at all scales and provides an illustrative view of the impact of planning projects in the targeted area. In addition, it allows to support decision making and also adds to the public debate on competing land uses on limited space, which is particularly crucial in urban areas.