Mapping Global Urban Growth with Google Earth Engine

THE WORM’S EYE | A NEW LENS FOR URBANIZATION Geospatial Software Design PennDesign Wenhao Wu

Bird’s Eye View

Bird’s Eye View of the Gold Stocks, thedailygold.com

Urbanization in Bird’s Eye View

Guangzhou 1984

Urbanization in Bird’s Eye View

Guangzhou 1995

Urbanization in Bird’s Eye View

Guangzhou 2015

Urbanization in Bird’s Eye View

The Worm’s Eye View

Worm’s Eye View, panoramio.com

Urbanization in the Worm’s Eye View

New Urban Expansion

Urban Area at Year 1

Urban Area at Year 0

Urbanization in the Worm’s Eye View

Urban

Rural

Intensity of Change

Urbanization in the Worm’s Eye View

Tool: Global Computing

Tool: Global Computing other Designer/ Planner ...

Conventional Data

Designer/ Planner

Data stored on the cloud

other Designer/ Planner ...

Customized Algorithms

Nightlight

https://code.earthengine.google.com/

Largest Continuous Urban Agglomeration

Large Conurbation Identification

Nightlight Trend

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2013

Projected Nightlight Trend

Projected Nightlight Trend

Lansat Imagery

Guangzhou

Foshan

Edge Identification

Guangzhou

Foshan

Industrial Concentration Areas

Guangzhou

Foshan

Urban Expansion Typologies

Percent of Built-up Area in 1KM neighborhood Here the ReduceNeighborhood operation was used to calculate the share of built-up pixels within a 1KM neighborhood of any built-up pixel.

Urban Area

Sub-urban Area

Percent of Open Countryside in 1KM neighborhood Similarly, here the ReduceNeighborhood operation was used to calculate the share of open countryside pixels within a 1KM neighborhood of any open countryside pixel.

Captured Open Space Fringe Open Space

Exterior Open Space

Thank you