Charting urban change from the sky
What began an experimental concept in the 1990s has evolved into a defining feature of urban development: the smart city. Across the globe, cities are embedding digital technologies into their infrastructure to improve efficiency, sustainability and the quality of urban life. This article explores how advances in aerial mapping have played a central role in enabling this transformation, and examines – through a series of case studies – how these technologies continue to shape smart cities today.
The early 2000s marked a breakthrough moment for the smart city, with the rise of airborne Lidar, high-resolution imagery and photogrammetry making it possible to create detailed 3D city models. These geospatial tools provided a foundation for integrating real-time data from a growing array of sensors, allowing urban environments to become increasingly data-rich and responsive.
Technological breakthroughs
The pace of smart city development accelerated significantly in the 2010s with the introduction of dense image matching (DIM) and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). DIM allows for the generation of detailed 3D models from overlapping images, while SLAM enables real-time positioning and mapping without GPS dependence. These technologies have facilitated the development of urban spatial digital twins: dynamic 3D city models that allow planners to simulate infrastructure changes and test disaster response scenarios before real-world implementation.
Since 2018, smart cities have further evolved through increased sensor integration, greater computational power and the deployment of 5G networks, enabling real-time processing and analysis of massive data volumes. Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role in smart cities, enabling predictive analytics for areas like traffic flow optimization, energy demand management and public safety incident prediction. Despite these advancements, there are persistent challenges related to data management, privacy and system interoperability. These often stem from the diverse formats and communication protocols of various urban sensors and systems.
Advantages of crewed aerial mapping
In smart cities, data comes from a diverse ecosystem of sources, each contributing to a comprehensive understanding of urban dynamics. Satellites provide large-scale, consistent coverage of entire regions, valuable for monitoring environmental patterns and urban sprawl. Mobile mapping systems mounted on vehicles or handheld devices capture street-level detail, offering granular insights into road infrastructure, signage and pedestrian movement. Drones supply high-resolution imagery and real-time data for targeted monitoring and small-scale site inspections. Crewed aerial mapping, however, plays a vital complementary role by filling the gap between satellite and ground-level data. Aircraft equipped with advanced sensors capture high-resolution imagery and Lidar data across large urban areas in a single flight, delivering a level of detail and coverage that is difficult to achieve with other platforms.
The advantages of crewed aerial mapping extend beyond data acquisition. Aerial surveys provide large-area consistency and vertical accuracy that is critical for creating reliable 3D city models. The use of large-format cameras captures extensive areas in a single frame, enhancing efficiency, while the integration of oblique sensors allows for the capture of vertical facade information, crucial for detailed urban modelling. The ability to operate at higher altitudes and with fewer airspace restrictions than drones allows aircraft to cover complex urban landscapes and critical infrastructure zones more effectively. Furthermore, the emergence of hybrid sensor systems, combining Lidar and imagery acquisition in a single pass, maximizes data richness and reduces operational costs and time. The combination of this rich aerial data with satellite and ground-based inputs creates a more complete geospatial picture, significantly improving decision-making and resource allocation in smart cities.
Real-world applications
While the technological foundations of smart cities are impressive, their true value emerges when applied to solve real urban challenges. Across Europe, numerous cities are leveraging aerial mapping data to develop innovative solutions for climate resilience, environmental management and urban planning. Members of the European Association of Aerial Surveying Industries (EAASI) are not only involved in capturing this data, but also play a key role in processing and analysing it. High-density Lidar point clouds and photogrammetry data are processed using advanced software and algorithms to create detailed 3D city models, orthophotos and classified datasets. This expertise allows city planners to simulate future scenarios, optimize infrastructure maintenance and monitor environmental trends with greater accuracy. The ability of aerial mapping companies to combine data acquisition with processing ensures that smart cities are built on accurate, actionable insights.
- Case study 1: Nottingham’s digital twin
Nottingham City Council in the UK has taken a major step towards smarter urban management by developing a detailed digital twin of the city. This initiative integrates high-resolution aerial data with advanced 3D modelling to create an interactive platform that enhances city planning, public engagement and environmental management. The project leverages cutting-edge airborne mapping technology to provide accurate, comprehensive geospatial insights.
Nottingham City Council recruited the expertise of Bluesky International, an aerial survey company that is utilizing Leica Geosystems’ airborne solutions. Through this partnership between two EAASI companies, the council has developed a digital twin of the entire city – establishing Nottingham as a pioneer in digitally advanced city planning.
A key goal for Nottingham City Council was to create a platform accessible to multiple departments, ensuring that the digital twin could support a broad range of urban planning and infrastructure management needs. The platform enables planners to drop proposed 3D building models into the digital twin and link them to relevant planning documents, such as permissions and proposals. Tools embedded within the digital twin, including line-of-sight analysis, shadow assessment and measurement, allow planners to assess the potential impact of new developments more efficiently. This integrated approach has accelerated decision-making and increased confidence that proposed developments align with the existing urban fabric.
The foundation of the digital twin was laid through an advanced aerial survey conducted by Bluesky International using the Leica CityMapper-2 by Hexagon, a hybrid urban mapping sensor capable of capturing both vertical and oblique imagery alongside high-point-density Lidar. This approach enables the creation of a highly detailed 3D model incorporating building facades, road networks and vegetation with remarkable accuracy. The ability to collect multiple datasets in a single flight reduced costs and carbon emissions while increasing the speed and consistency of data acquisition.
Developed using the innovative MetroVista 3D mesh model product from UK Bluesky International, the new tool will ensure accurate data is driving decision-making in a bid to offer transparency and increased engagement with the planning process. The combination of detailed point cloud data and immersive MetroVista mesh models has enhanced the city’s ability to monitor urban growth, assess environmental changes and improve transport infrastructure.
The data was processed using a streamlined workflow, producing orthophotos, classified point clouds and detailed 3D mesh models. Nottingham City Council integrated this data into an online interactive tool, allowing urban planners and decision-makers to visualize development scenarios, conduct environmental assessments and evaluate infrastructure projects with greater precision. The platform also supports public engagement by enabling citizens to explore and understand the impact of urban changes.
Nottingham’s success in creating a multifunctional digital twin demonstrates how aerial surveying and advanced geospatial data processing can support more transparent, efficient and sustainable urban planning.
- Case study 2: Stuttgart’s digital twin
Stuttgart, Germany’s sixth largest city, has made significant strides towards becoming a smart city by developing a highly detailed digital twin, enabled by advanced aerial surveying and photogrammetry. The project aims to improve urban planning, mobility and environmental sustainability by integrating high-resolution 3D data into decision-making processes.
GeoFly GmbH, a leading aerial mapping company, was tasked with acquiring the imagery necessary to build Stuttgart’s digital twin. Using a Vexcel Osprey 4.1 sensor mounted on a Diamond DA62 MPP aircraft, GeoFly conducted a meticulously planned aerial survey. The Osprey 4.1 sensor captured both nadir and oblique imagery at a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 7cm for the entire city and 4cm for the city centre, ensuring high-resolution coverage. The sensor’s advanced motion compensation capabilities allowed for precise data capture even over Stuttgart’s basin-like topography. GeoFly collected an impressive 69,760 images, producing approximately 40 terabytes of data and 12.5 terapixels of imagery. The nadir images alone covered 1,152km² over 2,330km of flight distance, completed in four separate flying days to account for weather and lighting conditions.
The aerial data was processed using ArcGIS Reality Studio to create a complete set of geospatial products, including a digital surface model (DSM), true ortho imagery, point clouds and a detailed 3D mesh of Stuttgart. The alignment process incorporated 23 ground control points and checkpoints, with the software’s automatic control point measurement feature streamlining this complex task. Once processed, the resulting 3D mesh was integrated into Stuttgart’s geoinformation system, making it accessible across city departments and public-facing platforms.
Serving as a platform for integrating real-time sensor data, the digital twin is already informing urban development decisions and improving public engagement by visualizing future infrastructure projects. With diverse applications such as shadow analysis, solar potential mapping and urban heat island monitoring, the detailed 3D model also supports applications in mobility and environmental management. Stuttgart’s model demonstrates how advanced aerial surveying can drive more responsive, data-informed urban planning.
- Case study 3: Stalowa Wola's blue-green infrastructure development
Another compelling example comes from Stalowa Wola, an industrial city in southeastern Poland facing significant environmental challenges, including flooding, urban heat islands, air pollution and limited green spaces. The city needed to enhance its resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change while improving the quality of life for residents. OPEGIEKA, an EAASI company based in Poland, developed a comprehensive blue-green infrastructure concept using aerial mapping as its foundation.
The project followed a three-phase approach of inventory, analysis and design. In the inventory phase, OPEGIEKA created a detailed green spaces database through photointerpretation of high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery. This provided a precise baseline understanding of the city’s existing green assets and impervious surfaces.
The analysis phase leveraged this aerial data to perform sophisticated remote sensing analysis, including rainfall and runoff simulations to identify flood-prone areas, urban heat island and hotspot detection to pinpoint temperature anomalies, accessibility mapping of green areas, impermeable surfaces detection, ventilation corridor analysis, and tree crown segmentation. Such extensive analysis would have been impossible without the comprehensive, accurate data provided by aerial surveys.
In the design phase, OPEGIEKA developed a blue-green infrastructure concept that included strategic locations for new parks, rain gardens, water retention reservoirs and green corridors. The plan also established evidence-based rules for managing urban greenery, all derived from the insights gained through aerial data analysis.
The final results were delivered in a comprehensive report containing maps, findings, recommendations and performance indicators. City officials and stakeholders received the analysis through workshops and online presentations, providing a scientific foundation for future urban planning decisions. This project exemplifies how aerial mapping data extends far beyond simple visualization, also enabling sophisticated modelling and simulations that drive real urban improvements.
- Case study 4: Ajdovščina's enhancing smart city infrastructure
The Municipality of Ajdovščina in Slovenia is taking a comprehensive approach to smart city development by integrating aerial and terrestrial geospatial data into a centralized infrastructure management platform. The project, supported by Flycom Technologies, combines data from Lidar, classical and true orthophotos, a 3D mesh of the city centre, traffic sensors and road condition assessments to enhance urban mobility, infrastructure maintenance and emergency response capabilities. This initiative reflects how smart cities are increasingly leveraging multi-source data to improve decision-making and operational efficiency.
Flycom Technologies conducted airborne Lidar with imagery capture surveys over Ajdovščina, along with terrestrial capture. Data from the airborne dataset was integrated into a centralized platform alongside terrestrial Lidar and photographic surveys. The airborne survey captured high-resolution data on street layouts, road surfaces and infrastructure components, creating a detailed 3D urban model.
By consolidating aerial and ground-based datasets, the municipality gained a more comprehensive view of its infrastructure. Traffic sensors and road damage mapping were added to monitor traffic flow and identify maintenance needs. This integration enables city planners to optimize traffic patterns, schedule road repairs proactively and improve overall transportation efficiency. Emergency services, including fire and medical response teams, benefit from enhanced situational awareness, such as understanding street widths, bridge load capacities and optimal emergency routes.
The integration of aerial and terrestrial data into a single platform allows municipalities to manage infrastructure more effectively. In Ajdovščina, the centralized system supports better resource allocation, faster response times for repairs and enhanced public safety. The ability to combine multiple data streams – from aerial imagery and Lidar to real-time traffic monitoring – creates a dynamic, responsive urban management framework.
Flycom’s contribution illustrates how aerial mapping companies are involved not only in capturing high-resolution data, but also in processing and integrating it into smart city platforms. Their technical expertise in combining diverse datasets strengthens the analytical capabilities of municipal administrations, enabling data-driven decision-making that enhances urban sustainability and resilience.
Conclusion
As smart cities continue to grow in complexity, the demand for reliable, high-quality geospatial data will only increase. Crewed aerial surveying platforms, with their ability to capture detailed data quickly and accurately, will remain at the forefront of this technological evolution. By combining advanced sensors, machine learning and real-time processing capabilities, crewed aerial mapping will continue to drive innovation in urban planning and smart city development, ensuring that cities are more efficient, more resilient and more sustainable in the years to come.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ada Perello
Quelle/Source: GIM International, 22.07.2025
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