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Dramatic uneven urbanization of large cities throughout the world in recent decades

Author

Listed:
  • Liqun Sun

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ji Chen

    (The University of Hong Kong)

  • Qinglan Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Dian Huang

    (National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen)

Abstract

The world has experienced dramatic urbanization in recent decades. However, we still lack information about the characteristics of urbanization in large cities throughout the world. After analyzing 841 large cities with built-up areas (BUAs) of over 100 km2 from 2001 to 2018, here we found an uneven distribution of urbanization at different economic levels. On average, large cities in the low-income and lower-middle-income countries had the highest urban population growth, and BUA expansion in the upper-middle-income countries was more than three times that of the high-income countries. Globally, more than 10% of BUAs in 325 large cities showed significant greening (P

Suggested Citation

  • Liqun Sun & Ji Chen & Qinglan Li & Dian Huang, 2020. "Dramatic uneven urbanization of large cities throughout the world in recent decades," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-19158-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19158-1
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    14. Lisu Chen & Qiong Wei & Qiang Fu & Daolun Feng, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Evolution Analysis of Habitat Quality under High-Speed Urbanization: A Case Study of Urban Core Area of China Lin-Gang Free Trade Zone (2002–2019)," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    15. Wang, Jie & Zhang, Yuzhen & Zhang, Xiaoling & Song, Mengqiao & Ye, Jianping, 2023. "The spatio-temporal trends of urban green space and its interactions with urban growth: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
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    23. Song, Weize & Yang, Wenqing & Wang, Na & Wang, Can & Li, Zheng & Ou, Yifu & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2024. "How does industrial transformative process shape the spatial dynamics of urban development?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

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