Mapping Urbanization in the United States for 2020

摘要

Population is often projected as a bulk number without details about its spatial distribution. We use remote sensing and Census Bureau data to disaggregate the projected U.S. population and assess the urban expansion for year 2020 compared to 2011. The results show that population growth in California's urban centers will surpass land consumption. In the eastern U.S., as well as in the Midwest, urban expansion is expected to increase significantly faster than population. This study reveals that urbanization in the U.S. appears to implicitly include a `cultural character' whereby depending on the region, urban centers are either built horizontally using large area development per capita or becoming denser and possibly using vertical structures with minimal footprints. These are considerations for the United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 11.3 to ensure future design of safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. The method developed here supports the U.N. SDG effort.