Abstract
By 2050, 90% of the population in Latin America will live in cities, but there is a lack of up-to-date spatial information about the urban extent and patterns of urbanization in cities of this region. In this study, we analyzed population growth, urban density and urbanization dynamics between 1992 and 2009 in the major cities of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Perú using Google Earth and DMSP/OLS night-time lights imagery. We used Google Earth to map the urban extent, and time series of night-time lights to analyze spatial patterns of urban development. The dominant urban development patterns were: high-density compact in Bogotá, Cali, Guayaquil, and Medellín; high-density expansive growth in La Paz/El Alto; low-density expansive in Quito and Santa Cruz; and a mix of high-density compact and suburban growth in Lima. Urban growth occurred largely along the periphery of cities, influenced by the local landscape and by demographic and socioeconomic factors such as immigration and housing prices. Urban density in Colombia (>20,000 per/km2) was among the highest in the world. Future growth in the region will probably be characterized by densification and slow urban expansion. This study also validates the utility of Google Earth and night-time lights for monitoring urbanization.
Highlights
Cities occupy a relatively small fraction of the Earth's land area, but serve as habitats for more than half of the human race
Some studies suggest that urban population densities in Latin American will decline as cities become more affluent and more decentralized [74]
The most densely populated cities were in Colombia, which had the highest country-level GDP, while La Paz/El Alto, Santa Cruz, and Quito had lower GDP and low population densities (Table 1)
Summary
Cities occupy a relatively small fraction of the Earth's land area, but serve as habitats for more than half of the human race. In 2011, the global population reached ~7 billion, and more than 3.5 billion lived in urban areas [1]. The global urban population is expected to reach ~6.3 billion by 2050, meaning that ~70% of the global population will live in cities by the middle of this century [2]. Over the last 150 years, urbanization, or the concentration of people in cities, has been the phenomenon that has most radically transformed society. Britain became the first urban society in the early 1900s, when only ~5.5% of the global population lived in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants [3]. More people live in cities because they are the main providers of employment, housing, education, and health care, and they are major centers of culture, innovation, and economic activity [4]. Cities have undoubtedly become the engine of the global economy, generating between 80% and 95% of the global GDP [5,6]
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