New Insights into Urbanization Based on Global Mapping and Analysis of Human Settlements in the Rural–Urban Continuum

The clear boundary between urban and rural areas is gradually disappearing, and urban and rural areas are two poles of a gradient with many continuous human settlements in between, which is a concept known as the rural–urban continuum. Little is known about the distribution and change trajectories o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land (Basel) 2023-08, Vol.12 (8), p.1607
Main Authors: Li, Xiyu, Yu, Le, Chen, Xin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
change trajectories
Classification
Decision making
Distribution
Environmental aspects
Human settlements
Identification and classification
Land cover
Land settlement
land system
Mapping
Measurement
Population density
Population growth
regional differences
Regions
Rural areas
Rural-urban fringe areas
rural–urban continuum
Satellite imaging
Towns
Trends
Urban areas
urban expansion
Urbanization
Villages
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Summary:The clear boundary between urban and rural areas is gradually disappearing, and urban and rural areas are two poles of a gradient with many continuous human settlements in between, which is a concept known as the rural–urban continuum. Little is known about the distribution and change trajectories of the various types in the rural–urban continuum across the globe. Therefore, using global land-cover data (FROM-GLC Plus) and global population data (Worldpop) based on the decision-making tree method, this study proposed a method and classification system for global rural–urban continuum mapping and produced the mapping results on a global scale in the Google Earth Engine platform. With the expansion of built-up areas and the increase in population, the global human settlements follow the pattern that develops from wildland to villages (isolated—sparse—dense), and then to towns (sparse—dense), and finally to urban areas (edge—center). From a regional perspective, there are some obvious differences: Africa is dominated by sparse villages; Asia has the highest proportion of densely clustered towns; the proportion of dense villages in Europe is high. Rural–urban continuum mapping and analysis provide a database and new insights into urbanization and differences between urban and rural areas around the world.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land12081607