Making the Sustainable Development Goals Feasible at Planetary Scale, One City at a Time
Tracking global urban growth
The planet will be home to 9.5 billion people by 2050, according to UN predictions. Approximately 68% of humanity will be living in cities and urban areas. Goal 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” – requires reliable, accurate data on changes to land use and land cover across the planet, especially its urban areas.
The Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning is working with our strategic partner, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, to track urban growth across the planet. Using medium- and high- resolution satellite imagery, in combination with developing advanced machine learning approaches, it’s underpinned by the University of Sydney’s commitment to a University Sustainability Strategy focused on the UN-SDG goals.
From spatio-temporal longitudinal analysis of changes to built-up areas, road networks, informal settlements, vegetation and green cover to identification of urban heat island effects and urban climate resilience, this is research that will break new ground – above all enabling big data and evidence-driven planning for an urban planet that is sustainable and equitable.
Associate ʰǴڱǰSomwrita Sarkar, University of Sydney
ٰChirag Deb, University of Sydney
ʰǴڱǰDavid Levinson, University of Sydney
Associate Professor Arnab Jana, Indian Institutes of Technology
Assistant Professor Eswar Rajasekaran, Indian Institutes of Technology
