Strategic directions of remote sensing to support the resilience of urban environments and communities

Resilience has become a key word in the context of strategies for the development and management of urban environments, necessary to address the changes and challenges that cities face in natural, economic and social dimensions. <br/> <br/> Fight against the effects of climate change, sustainable urban and territorial planning, prevention and monitoring activities for infrastructures are just some examples of the issues to be managed to make urban environments resilient, through the implementation of actions linked to the prevention and mitigation of risks. <br/> <br/> Satellite technologies and remote sensing can provide a decisive contribution to the management of these issues. This is why the Italian Space Agency has implemented the program called "I4DP - Innovation for Downstream Preparation", created with the aim of encouraging the development of services and applications based on the use of satellite technologies and data, also in synergy with information from non-space technologies, useful for supporting institutions in the management and protection of the territory and its natural and artificial resources and strengthening the national industrial sector. This program is structured to be dedicated to both public bodies (scientific and institutional) and the business world, in order to be able on the one hand to support scientific and technological progress in the downstream services sector and on the other to receive and satisfy the needs of the national community. <br/> <br/> This work aims to show, through case studies, how the strategies implemented by the Italian Space Agency are supporting the resilience of urban environments and their communities, through the development of innovative downstream applications.