Google Earth’s Timelapse Video Shows Rapid Urban Expansion in Major Cities Between 1984 and 2018
The world has been chasing urban expansion over the past few decades and it seems almost unstoppable. A timelapse presented by Google Earth (@googleearth) documented some of the major cities around the world undergoing rapid urbanization and expansion between 1984 to 2018. While urban areas come with great opportunities for human sustenance, they negatively impact the total forested cover as vast areas of land are cleared to build houses and city infrastructure. The video titled, “Google Earth Timelapse: Urban Expansion Around The World,” showcased cities from the USA, Mexico, Kuwait, and China among many others.
The topography of Cancun in Mexico evolved along the coastline as deforestation occurred to expand the urban region. Following that, the desert city of Al Khiran in Kuwait also observed rapid development in the coastline. The artificial waterways were easy to sport, built to enhance the cooling effect and also add to the aesthetic appeal of the city. Initially, a green region, Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, has embraced urbanization since 1984 with distinct road networks visible from satellite imagery. Similarly, Chongqing in China also saw an overwhelming expansion of the city while pushing its boundaries into green forests to aid human settlements.
Not only in major Western nations, but even Eastern countries across the Middle East and Asian continents have grown and expanded into intensely urbanized cities– the likes of Ha Long in Vietnam, Doha in Qatar, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Cairo in Egypt. The United States, a country with the highest urban cities, had long embraced urbanization in the 1910s. But this trend has only continued well into the 21st century as the video offered glimpses into the urbanization process of Miami, Florida from 1984 to 2018. It was observed that Florida, which was already developed into an urban region, gradually expanded into nearby regions increasing the net size of the popular coastal city.
It is estimated that more than half of the global population now lives in urban areas in contrast to only one-third of the population in the 1950s. The ratio is also expected to increase by the next two decades, with about two-thirds projected to reside in urban areas by 2050, per a United Nations report. A study published in the journal Nature, detailed the growth rate of urban cities during the hindcast period to be 3,230 kilometers square annually, about one-sixth of the growth rate in the historical period, that is between 1992 and 2013. This was done to help with data needed to evaluate the environmental impacts of urbanization and its dynamics.
It has been determined that the world's urban population has surged nearly six-fold since the 1950s, with over 4.2 billion people living in urban areas in 2018, from the initial 751 million, per the World Economic Forum. However, the numbers are only going to increase as rural populations are expected to plateau and eventually decline while urban populations swell to over six billion in the coming decades. The major chunks of projected urban growth are anticipated to mainly occur from India, China, and Nigeria. As modern economics develops, it is important to devise strategies to ensure equal distribution of services and opportunities essential for survival in urban cities.
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