Rapid Construction Putting Pressure On The Ground Beneath The World's Fastest-Growing Cities

The technology uses Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), analysing radar signals from orbiting satellites to measure millimetre-scale structural movement, and extends decades of proven science into dense urban environments where conventional sensors have struggled to keep pace with construction.

Cities worldwide are building upward at an unprecedented pace. In a case study over Toronto's Yonge and Eglinton corridor, one of Canada's most active construction zones, UrbanSAR detected movement of up to 30 millimetres at the upper floors of newly built towers, the levels above where ground-based monitoring is typically focused. Dozens of high-rise buildings now sit directly above a new subway extension and alongside decades-old structures. Residents have reported sinkholes, cracked pavements, and road closures. Until now, there has been no practical way to see what is moving, where, and why across the full corridor.

Conventional monitoring is precise but limited to the single structure it is attached to. The tunnel underneath, the neighbouring tower, the road between them: all fall outside its reach. City-wide ground sensor networks cost millions and still leave gaps. UrbanSAR closes them by processing satellite radar through proprietary algorithms that strip away the masking effects of surrounding buildings, isolate individual structures, and map movement vertically along each tower, delivering continuous corridor-wide coverage at a fraction of the cost.