Assessing the Underworld — Remote sensing to support smart and liveable cities

There is much debate around `smart cities' being delivered via ubiquitous instrumentation and multiple interpretation of the resulting data, leading to applications of so-called `big data'. This aspiration inevitably resonates with technology developers and suppliers, yet is only valid if `smart' is truly smart and not doing what we already do more efficiently - there is an imperative to re-engineer our cities to live within what our planet can provide and protect it for future generations, while prioritizing peoples' wellbeing. Herein lies the greater, more inspiring, challenge, and one that provides the focus for sensor technology development. This paper outlines the Liveable Cities and UK Foresight Future of Cities projects, and a method for future-proofing proposed urban interventions. However, the above neglects the existing fabric of our cities - the context in which new interventions must operate effectively. This is where remote sensing, and GPR in particular, has a crucial role to play. Mapping the Underworld, and it successor Assessing the Underworld, make explicit GPR's potential and, crucially, shifts the focus of attention from buried pipes and cables to the road structure and the ground (which supports them both). The research is predicated on the potential for combined sensors, deployed at the surface and in-pipe, to reveal the layout and condition of the urban shallow subsurface. An intelligent combination of widespread instrumentation and remote sensing could move cities towards a far more sustainable and resilient, and therefore truly smart, future - GPR is a core part of this future.