Abstract
Cities are constantly changing and authorities face immense challenges in obtaining accurate and timely data to effectively manage
urban areas. This is particularly problematic in the developing world where municipal records are often unavailable or not
updated. Spaceborne earth observation (EO) has great potential for providing up-to-date spatial information about urban areas.
This article reviews the application of EO for supporting urban planning. In particular, the article overviews case studies where EO
was used to derive products and indicators required by urban planners. The review concludes that EO has sufficiently matured in
recent years but that a shift from the current focus on purely science-driven EO applications to the provision of useful information
for day-to-day decision-making and urban sustainability monitoring is clearly needed.