UrbanReleaf: Enhancing Sustainable Urban Transformation with a Data-Driven Solution for Smart Depaving

Rafaela Morandi Santos; Lucas Sarmento; Mirela T. Cazzolato; Harlei Miguel de Arruda Leite

doi:10.5753/sbbd_estendido.2025.248229

Rafaela Morandi Santos Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica
Lucas Sarmento Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica
Mirela T. Cazzolato Universidade de São Paulo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4364-010X
Harlei Miguel de Arruda Leite Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbbd_estendido.2025.248229

Resumo

How does the proliferation of impervious surfaces affect the quality of life? Impermeabilization due to paving contributes to urban issues, such as increased temperatures, which form the so-called heat islands. It can also cause more intense and frequent floods, diminished biodiversity, and deterioration of air quality. In this context, depaving is a practical solution for increasing urban resilience. Given a large urban region covered by impervious surfaces, how can we select the best points for intervention? We propose the UrbanReleaf method to map excessively paved urban areas and simulate the environmental impact of implementing green infrastructure. UrbanReleaf identifies critical zones for nature-based interventions such as depaving and forecasts environmental outcomes, including surface temperature, soil moisture, and vegetation indices. The method achieves this by leveraging geospatial satellite imagery and machine learning regressors to analyze vegetation indices, land surface temperatures, and moisture content. Experimental results show that UrbanReleaf can support urban planners and policymakers with data-driven clues that can help mitigate problems caused by impermeabilized areas.

Palavras-chave: Depaving, Satellite Imagery, Geospatial Analysis

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