Google Earth Engine for Urban Studies (Online)

Urbanization has been a fundamental trend of the past two centuries and a key force shaping the development of the modern world. While urbanization in rapidly growing nations is helping lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, it is also creating immense societal challenges by increasing greenhouse-gas emissions, destabilizing fragile ecosystems and creating new demands on public services and infrastructure that pose significant challenges on the environment. Despite the importance of understanding the drivers of urban growth, we are still unable to quantify the magnitude and pace of urbanization in a consistent manner at a high resolution and global scale.