An article introducing and defining the concept of ‘spatial finance’ – the integration of geospatial data and analysis into financial theory and practice – by Ben Caldecott (CGFI Director) and Christophe Christiaen (CGFI Innovation and Impact Lead) has been published in the Journal of Sustainable Finance.
We introduce and define a new concept, ‘Spatial Finance’, as the integration of geospatial data and analysis into financial theory and practice, and describe how developments in earth observation, particularly as the result of new satellite constellations, combined with new artificial intelligence methods and cloud computing, create a plethora of potential applications for Spatial Finance.
We argue that Spatial Finance will become a core future competency for financial analysis, and this will have significant implications for information markets, risk modelling and management, valuation modelling, and the identification of investment opportunities.
The paper reviews the characteristics of geospatial data and related technology developments, some current and future applications of Spatial Finance, and its potential impact on financial theory and practice.
