Tallinn's Urban Planning Department has signed a contract with technology company Datel to use satellite imagery-based analysis in construction oversight. The tool will compare satellite images with data from the national building register to identify illegal structures.

Older orthophotos will also be available through the platform to help determine when a particular building or extension was constructed, the Urban Planning Department said.

The platform will generate a list of buildings that are either missing from the building register or incorrectly registered, as well as unregistered structures and buildings whose footprints differ significantly from the information recorded in the register. The analysis will cover the entire territory of Tallinn, except for the island of Aegna.

Satellite imagery will be produced this year and the system will be ready for use in January.

Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik said the introduction of satellite data will provide better opportunities to monitor changes in the urban environment and make construction oversight more efficient.

"Smart solutions allow us to process large amounts of information more quickly and direct officials' attention to where it is needed most," Terik said.

Eva-Maria Meristo, head of the Urban Planning Department's construction oversight division, said the satellite-based tool will help officials detect changes to buildings in the urban environment earlier and devote more attention to resolving complex cases.

"From space, we get a view of the city that isn't visible from the street. Satellite data helps us identify where construction activity warrants closer inspection. If an inspection reveals a discrepancy, we assess whether the structure can be brought into compliance with regulations and under what conditions," Meristo said.

Oliver Stimmer, head of Datel's space division, said Tallinn's decision to adopt the Catanova service, developed jointly by Datel and the European Space Agency (ESA), marks an important step for the company.

"Until now, we have primarily offered this innovative machine learning-based object detection solution to municipalities in Spain. One of the biggest advantages of satellite-based remote sensing is its cost-effectiveness, as large areas can be analyzed using a consistent methodology without the need for on-site inspections every time a potential discrepancy needs to be identified," Stimmer said.

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