The European Research Council (ERC) is funding an interdisciplinary research project aimed at addressing the well-being and health needs of citizens. The study will focus on the city of Legnano as a model that can be replicated globally.
Improving urban aesthetics and city livability to protect and promote citizens’ health is the goal of the FLORA project (Fusing LiDAR Observations with Remote-sensing Analysis), winner of a €150,000 ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) grant. FLORA is led by Valentina Bollati, Professor of Occupational Medicine and head of the EPIGET Lab (Laboratory of Epidemiology, Epigenetics, and Toxicology) in the Department of Clinical and Community Sciences, and Elia Biganzoli, Professor of Medical Statistics and head of the Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Statistics group in the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at the same university. Both are co-founders of the INES initiative, which encompasses the FLORA project, and members of the DESIRE Research Center for Decision Science.
FLORA will leverage Artificial Intelligence methods to analyze the link between health and the exposome—i.e., the sum of all environmental, behavioral, and occupational non-genetic exposures an individual experiences over their lifetime. This study, conducted in Legnano (Milan), represents a significant application of the MAMELI project (Mapping the Methylation of Repetitive Elements to Track the Exposome Effects on Health: The City of Legnano as a Living Lab). MAMELI, also led by Valentina Bollati, received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth approximately €3 million in 2023 and involved collaboration with several research groups, including one coordinated by Elia Biganzoli. The PoC grant is awarded to projects exploring the commercial and societal potential of research previously funded by an ERC grant, making this recognition particularly noteworthy.
“With FLORA, we will have the opportunity to integrate detailed urban landscape data—such as green spaces, air quality, and traffic flows—with citizens’ perceptions. Additionally, we aim to create metrics to quantify aesthetic perception, livability, and urban health, identifying areas requiring targeted interventions. Most importantly, by involving urban planners, administrators, local communities, and residents, we can initiate a new approach to city design that meets well-being and health needs,” explains Valentina Bollati, who has also been the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant in 2011 and an ERC PoC in 2018.
A multidisciplinary team of experts—including Fabio Mosca (University of Milan), Pilar Guerrieri (Politecnico di Milano), Andrea Cattaneo (University of Insubria), and Giovanni Sanesi (University of Bari)—will collaborate with local authorities and Legnano citizens to collect data and implement a multidimensional indicator dashboard (FLORA dashboard). This dashboard will integrate various technologies, such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for object distance detection, GIS (Geographic Information Systems), and human perception surveys. The ultimate goal is to create a replicable and transferable model on a global scale. “The strength of FLORA lies in its ability to merge interdisciplinary expertise, responsibly and transparently utilizing Artificial Intelligence and Decision Science. It goes beyond traditional sectoral approaches, adopting an integrated and sustainable vision of urban well-being,” concludes Elia Biganzoli.
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