Objectives of the service
The Urban Regeneration and Renewable Energy Planning Platform (UR2EP) addresses the difficulty faced by municipalities, Renewable Energy Communities, and real estate and industrial operators in turning fragmented territorial information into practical support for planning and operational decisions. Relevant information is often distributed across cadastral records, planning documents, geographic information systems and local archives, while existing tools may require specialist expertise and offer limited analytical support.
The service combines Earth Observation data, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, OpenStreetMap data, cadastral and planning information, and local datasets within a digital decision-support platform. Data fusion, remote sensing, image analysis and Artificial Intelligence support asset screening, the identification and preliminary assessment of abandoned or underused buildings and areas, the analysis of planning and constraint information, rooftop solar-suitability assessment and the preliminary identification of existing photovoltaic installations. Results are presented through maps, asset information, indicators, rankings, technical reports and structured exports.
The project develops and validates a Minimum Viable Product with representatives of the main user groups. Their involvement supports the assessment of the usefulness, clarity and operational value of the outputs and the definition of a service aligned with territorial, energy-planning and investment processes.
Users and their needs
UR2EP targets users in Italy across three user communities:
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Municipalities and local public administrations: the Municipalities of Apice (BN, Italy), Prata di Principato Ultra (AV, Italy) and Montesarchio (BN, Italy) need to integrate fragmented territorial, planning, cadastral and administrative information and make it easier to use in technical-office workflows. Their needs include consultation of multiple layers, examination of constraints and hazards, reconciliation of official data with observed information and local knowledge, support for planning and administrative procedures, and production of maps, inventories, technical sheets and reports. This broader need for integrated territorial information supports applications such as urban-regeneration planning and the identification and preliminary assessment of abandoned or underused assets.
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Renewable Energy Communities and community energy operators: Futura Energia CER needs to screen buildings and rooftops, rank photovoltaic candidates, support investment and funding decisions, and communicate evidence to municipalities, citizens, businesses and technical partners.
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Real estate and industrial stakeholders: Confindustria Benevento Real Estate represents an exploratory segment interested in comparing assets, assessing reuse or redevelopment opportunities, examining territorial constraints and obtaining structured information for preliminary investment decisions.
Across these communities, UR2EP must transform heterogeneous data into accessible, traceable and decision-ready outputs for users with varying technical expertise.
Service/ system concept
UR2EP is defined as a modular platform supporting configurable service offers for municipalities, Renewable Energy Communities and real estate or industrial stakeholders. Its data-management, analytical and presentation functions are configured according to the relevant service context and user needs.
Each service execution combines a selected Area of Interest, an applicable service configuration and an Analysis Request. Before processing, available Earth Observation, LiDAR, OpenStreetMap, cadastral, planning and stakeholder-provided data are imported, checked for coverage, quality, temporal relevance and permitted use, and prepared for the selected workflow.
Configured analytical capabilities support urban-regeneration and asset screening, including the identification and preliminary assessment of abandoned or underused buildings and areas. The platform also supports rooftop characterisation, solar-suitability assessment, preliminary identification of existing photovoltaic installations, comparison and prioritisation of candidate assets, and technical reporting.
Each execution produces a persistent and traceable Analytical Product containing the relevant source references, processing context, maps, asset-level or rooftop-level information, indicators, rankings, quality information, technical reports and structured exports. Authorised users access these outputs through a web interface, where they can consult, compare, reuse and download the generated information.
Space Added Value
Earth Observation is the space asset used by UR2EP. Remote-sensing analysis of open Sentinel-2 data provides consistent, repeatable and scalable coverage for broad territorial context, land-cover analysis, vegetation or spectral indicators and multitemporal observation. Commercial very-high-resolution imagery is activated selectively when building- or installation-level detail is required, including detailed asset interpretation and preliminary identification of existing photovoltaic installations.
Compared with approaches based mainly on fragmented local archives, manual screening, isolated map layers or occasional field surveys, Earth Observation provides a more homogeneous evidence base across wider areas. It supports repeatable analysis, comparison between locations, identification of changes or inconsistencies, and prioritisation of assets or areas requiring further investigation. Selective use of commercial imagery also allows the level of detail to be matched to the analytical need while controlling acquisition costs.
UR2EP combines satellite-based remote-sensing information with LiDAR-derived elevation and rooftop-geometry information, OpenStreetMap, cadastral and planning data, local orthophotos and stakeholder-provided datasets. This integration converts satellite observations into locally interpretable maps, indicators, asset information and reports, while retaining information on source, date, quality and suitability.
Current Status
UR2EP has engaged representatives of its three target user communities in Italy. Evidence has been collected from the Municipalities of Apice, Prata di Principato Ultra and Montesarchio, Futura Energia CER and Confindustria Benevento – Real Estate. Apice has also provided an initial package of territorial, planning, address and orthophoto data for technical assessment.
The Business Case confirms three customer segments and defines their operational needs, candidate service configurations and expected outputs. The System and Service Definition establishes the preliminary modular architecture and describes how Earth Observation data, LiDAR data and local sources contribute to the selected analytical workflows and user outputs.
The MVP scope covers multi-source data integration, municipal asset screening, rooftop characterisation, solar-suitability assessment, identification of existing photovoltaic installations, quality and provenance information, and generation of maps, indicators, reports and structured exports. Validation activities have been structured around representative municipal and Renewable Energy Community workflows. MVP implementation has not yet started.
