Zhou, Yuyu, et al. Satellite mapping of urban built-up heights reveals extreme infrastructure gaps and inequalities in the Global South. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119.46 (2022)

Objective:

• Estimate global urban built-up heights at a 500-m * 500-m grid level to characterize the distribution of infrastructure in urban areas

Case:

• Global

Methodology:

• Urban form: $QCD = \frac{Q_3 - Q_1}{Q_1 + Q_3}$
• Inequality: $I = \frac{\sigma}{(\mu(1-\mu))^{1/2}}$

Data Source

• Sentine-1
• Urban boundary: global urban boundary dataset
• Population and GDP: World Bank

Findings:

• Urban areas are dominated by low density and expansive development with low urban built-up heights
• Cities with high levels of verticality are predominantly located in East Asia and Western Europe
• Mean built-up height in China is two times higher than that in the US

• Most cities have a distinct peak in built-up heights in the urban center, with declining heights from the center outward to surrounding areas

• Top three countries with the largest amount of urban built-up infrastructure, China, the US, Japan, account for ~50% of the global total
• Per capita infrastructure for ~90% of the global population is lower than the average level of the Global North
• Large inequalities in urban built-up infrastructrue

Coding Reference:

• Not applicable