In 2023, the urbanization rate in different provinces of China varied between 89.5 percent in Shanghai municipality and 38.9 percent in Tibet. The national average urbanization rate reached around 66.2 percent in 2023. Urbanization and economic development During China’s rapid economic development, the share of people living in cities increased from only 19.4 percent in 1980 to nearly 64 percent in 2020. Urbanization rates are now coming closer to those in developed countries. However, the degree of urbanization still varies significantly between different regions in China. This correlates generally with the level of economic development across different regions in China. In eastern Chinese regions with high personal income levels and high per capita GDP, more inhabitants are living in cities than in the countryside. Influence of geography Another reason for different urbanization rates lies in the huge geographic differences of regions in China. Basically, those regions with a low population density often also display lower urbanization rates, because their inhabitants live more scattered across the land area. These differences will most probably remain despite further economic progress.

In 2024, approximately 67 percent of the total population in China lived in cities. The urbanization rate has increased steadily in China over the last decades. Degree of urbanization in China Urbanization is generally defined as a process of people migrating from rural to urban areas, during which towns and cities are formed and increase in size. Even though urbanization is not exclusively a modern phenomenon, industrialization and modernization did accelerate its progress. As shown in the statistic at hand, the degree of urbanization of China, the world's second-largest economy, rose from 36 percent in 2000 to around 51 percent in 2011. That year, the urban population surpassed the number of rural residents for the first time in the country's history.The urbanization rate varies greatly in different parts of China. While urbanization is lesser advanced in western or central China, in most coastal regions in eastern China more than two-thirds of the population lives already in cities. Among the ten largest Chinese cities in 2021, six were located in coastal regions in East and South China. Urbanization in international comparison Brazil and Russia, two other BRIC countries, display a much higher degree of urbanization than China. On the other hand, in India, the country with the worlds’ largest population, a mere 36.3 percent of the population lived in urban regions as of 2023. Similar to other parts of the world, the progress of urbanization in China is closely linked to modernization. From 2000 to 2024, the contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product in China shrank from 14.7 percent to 6.8 percent. Even more evident was the decrease of workforce in agriculture.

Here we used remote sensing data from multiple sources (time-series of Landsat and Sentinel images) to map the impervious surface area (ISA) at five-year intervals from 1990 to 2015, and then converted the results into a standardized dataset of the built-up area for 433 Chinese cities with 300,000 inhabitants or more, which were listed in the United Nations (UN) World Urbanization Prospects (WUP) database (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). We employed a range of spectral indices to generate the 1990–2015 ISA maps in urban areas based on remotely sensed data acquired from multiple sources. In this process, various types of auxiliary data were used to create the desired products for urban areas through manual segmentation of peri-urban and rural areas together with reference to several freely available products of urban extent derived from ISA data using automated urban–rural segmentation methods. After that, following the well-established rules adopted by the UN, we carried out the conversion to the standardized built-up area products from the 1990–2015 ISA maps in urban areas, which conformed to the definition of urban agglomeration area (UAA). Finally, we implemented data postprocessing to guarantee the spatial accuracy and temporal consistency of the final product.The standardized urban built-up area dataset (SUBAD–China) introduced here is the first product using the same definition of UAA adopted by the WUP database for 433 county and higher-level cities in China. The comparisons made with contemporary data produced by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the World Bank and UN-habitat indicate that our results have a high spatial accuracy and good temporal consistency and thus can be used to characterize the process of urban expansion in China.The SUBAD–China contains 2,598 vector files in shapefile format containing data for all China's cities listed in the WUP database that have different urban sizes and income levels with populations over 300,000. Attached with it, we also provided the distribution of validation points for the 1990–2010 ISA products of these 433 Chinese cities in shapefile format and the confusion matrices between classified data and reference data during different time periods as a Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet (XLSX) file.Furthermore, The standardized built-up area products for such cities will be consistently updated and refined to ensure the quality of their spatiotemporal coverage and accuracy. The production of this dataset together with the usage of population counts derived from the WUP database will close some of the data gaps in the calculation of SDG11.3.1 and benefit other downstream applications relevant to a combined analysis of the spatial and socio-economic domains in urban areas.

If you want to use this data, please cite our article:Xiong, S., Zhang, X., Lei, Y., Tan, G., Wang, H., & Du, S. (2024). Time-series China urban land use mapping (2016–2022): An approach for achieving spatial-consistency and semantic-transition rationality in temporal domain. Remote Sensing of Environment, 312, 114344.The global urbanization trend is geographically manifested through city expansion and the renewal of internal urban structures and functions. Time-series urban land use (ULU) maps are vital for capturing dynamic land changes in the urbanization process, giving valuable insights into urban development and its environmental consequences. Recent studies have mapped ULU in some cities with a unified model, but ignored the regional differences among cities; and they generated ULU maps year by year, but ignored temporal correlations between years; thus, they could be weak in large-scale and long time-series ULU monitoring. Accordingly, we introduce an temporal-spatial-semantic collaborative (TSS) mapping framework to generating accurate ULU maps with considering regional differences and temporal correlations. Firstly, to support model training, a large-scale ULU sample dataset based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Sentinel-2 imagery is automatically constructed, providing a total number of 56,412 samples with a size of 512 × 512 which are divided into six sub-regions in China and used for training different classification models. Then, an urban land use mapping network (ULUNet) is proposed to recognize ULU. This model utilizes a primary and an auxiliary encoder to process noisy OSM samples and can enhance the model's robustness under noisy labels. Finally, taking the temporal correlations of ULU into consideration, the recognized ULU are optimized, whose boundaries are unified by a time-series co-segmentation, and whose categories are modified by a knowledge-data driven method. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we consider all urban areas in China (254,566 km2), and produce a time-series China urban land use dataset (CULU) at a 10-m resolution, spanning from 2016 to 2022, with an overall accuracy of CULU is 82.42%. Through comparison, it can be found that CULU outperforms existing datasets such as EULUC-China and UFZ-31cities in data accuracies, spatial boundaries consistencies and land use transitions logicality. The results indicate that the proposed method and generated dataset can play important roles in land use change monitoring, ecological-environmental evolution analysis, and also sustainable city development.

In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

The high-precision 3D map market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing adoption of autonomous vehicles, smart city initiatives, and the expanding real estate industry's reliance on accurate spatial data. The market, currently estimated at $5 billion in 2025, is projected to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2025 to 2033. This significant growth is fueled by advancements in sensor technologies (LiDAR, cameras, IMU), improved data processing capabilities, and the decreasing cost of data acquisition and storage. The demand for highly accurate and detailed 3D maps is further amplified by the need for safer and more efficient autonomous navigation systems, precise urban planning, and realistic virtual representations for real estate marketing and property management. The market is segmented by crowdsourcing and centralized mapping models, as well as various applications like automated driving, smart cities, and the real estate sector, each exhibiting varying growth trajectories. The centralized model currently dominates due to higher accuracy and data control, though crowdsourcing is gaining traction for cost-effectiveness and data diversity. The competitive landscape is characterized by a mix of established players like TomTom, HERE Technologies, and Baidu Maps, alongside innovative startups such as CivilMaps and Ecoopia AI. These companies are constantly innovating to improve map accuracy, expand data coverage, and develop new applications. Geographic growth is expected to be strong across North America and Europe, driven by early adoption of autonomous vehicle technologies and robust infrastructure investment. Asia-Pacific is also poised for significant growth, especially in China and India, due to rapid urbanization and increasing investment in smart city projects. However, challenges such as data privacy concerns, high initial investment costs, and the need for ongoing map updates pose potential restraints to market growth. Addressing these challenges will be critical for sustained market expansion in the coming years.

The digital map market, currently valued at $25.55 billion in 2025, is experiencing robust growth, projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.39% from 2025 to 2033. This expansion is fueled by several key drivers. The increasing adoption of location-based services (LBS) across diverse sectors like automotive, logistics, and smart city initiatives is a primary catalyst. Furthermore, advancements in technologies such as AI, machine learning, and high-resolution satellite imagery are enabling the creation of more accurate, detailed, and feature-rich digital maps. The shift towards cloud-based deployment models offers scalability and cost-effectiveness, further accelerating market growth. While data privacy concerns and the high initial investment costs for sophisticated mapping technologies present some challenges, the overall market outlook remains overwhelmingly positive. The competitive landscape is dynamic, with established players like Google, TomTom, and ESRI vying for market share alongside innovative startups offering specialized solutions. The segmentation of the market by solution (software and services), deployment (on-premise and cloud), and industry reveals significant opportunities for growth in sectors like automotive navigation, autonomous vehicle development, and precision agriculture, where real-time, accurate mapping data is crucial. The Asia-Pacific region, driven by rapid urbanization and technological advancements in countries like China and India, is expected to witness particularly strong growth. The market's future hinges on continuous innovation. We anticipate a rise in the demand for 3D maps, real-time updates, and integration with other technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR). Companies are focusing on enhancing the accuracy and detail of their maps, incorporating real-time traffic data, and developing tailored solutions for specific industry needs. The increasing adoption of 5G technology promises to further boost the market by enabling faster data transmission and real-time updates crucial for applications like autonomous driving and drone delivery. The development of high-precision mapping solutions catering to specialized sectors like infrastructure management and disaster response will also fuel future growth. Ultimately, the digital map market is poised for continued expansion, driven by technological advancements and increased reliance on location-based services across a wide spectrum of industries. Recent developments include: December 2022 - The Linux Foundation has partnered with some of the biggest technology companies in the world to build interoperable and open map data in what is an apparent move t. The Overture Maps Foundation, as the new effort is called, is officially hosted by the Linux Foundation. The ultimate aim of the Overture Maps Foundation is to power new map products through openly available datasets that can be used and reused across applications and businesses, with each member throwing their data and resources into the mix., July 27, 2022 - Google declared the launch of its Street View experience in India in collaboration with Genesys International, an advanced mapping solutions company, and Tech Mahindra, a provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering solutions and services. Google, Tech Mahindra, and Genesys International also plan to extend this to more than around 50 cities by the end of the year 2022.. Key drivers for this market are: Growth in Application for Advanced Navigation System in Automotive Industry, Surge in Demand for Geographic Information System (GIS); Increased Adoption of Connected Devices and Internet. Potential restraints include: Complexity in Integration of Traditional Maps with Modern GIS System. Notable trends are: Surge in Demand for GIS and GNSS to Influence the Adoption of Digital Map Technology.

The interactive map creation tools market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing demand for visually engaging data representation across diverse sectors. The market, estimated at $2.5 billion in 2025, is projected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15% from 2025 to 2033, reaching approximately $8 billion by 2033. This expansion is fueled by several key factors. The rising adoption of cloud-based solutions and the proliferation of readily available geospatial data are lowering the barrier to entry for both individual and corporate users. Furthermore, advancements in mapping technologies, such as 3D mapping capabilities and improved user interfaces, are enhancing the overall user experience and driving wider adoption. The increasing need for effective data visualization in fields like real estate, urban planning, environmental monitoring, and marketing is further bolstering market growth. Segmentation reveals a significant portion of the market is attributed to paid use licenses, reflecting the advanced features and support provided by premium tools. However, the free-use segment is also growing rapidly, driven by the availability of user-friendly open-source tools and freemium models offered by major players. Corporate users constitute a larger portion of the market compared to individual users, primarily due to their higher budget allocations for data visualization and analysis tools. Geographic distribution reveals a concentration of market share in North America and Europe, largely due to higher technological adoption and a well-established digital infrastructure. However, rapid growth is anticipated in Asia Pacific regions like China and India, driven by increasing urbanization and government initiatives promoting digital transformation. Market restraints include the high cost of advanced mapping software, the need for specialized technical skills for complex projects, and the potential for data security and privacy concerns. Nevertheless, ongoing technological innovation, coupled with the increasing accessibility of data and analytical tools, is anticipated to mitigate these challenges and continue to drive significant market expansion throughout the forecast period. Key players like Mapbox, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and Google are actively shaping the market landscape through continuous product development and strategic partnerships, fostering innovation and competitive pricing strategies.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in urban greenspaces can provide important ecosystem services for a large number of urban population around the world. However, the distribution, stocks, and drivers of SOC change in urban greenspaces are relatively unknown compared with those of natural ecosystems. To address this knowledge gap, we utilized 744 SOC measurements (0-30 cm depth) collected from urban greenspaces across 148 cities in China to investigate the key the distribution and drivers of surface SOC stocks. Our analysis revealed weak correlations between in-field SOC measurements and estimates derived from widely used global SOC datasets (e.g., SoilGrids250m v2.0 and HWSD v2.0), underscoring the necessity for improved characterization of SOC distribution and its determinants in urban greenspaces. By employing Random Forest (RF) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), we found that the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and social-economic status indicated by night-time light density (NLD) and population density (POP) were the most important predictors of surface SOC in Chinese urban greenspaces. RF model-predicted surface SOC in urban greenspaces was higher in moderately developed cities than in underdeveloped or highly developed cities. SOC increased with EVI, but displayed a hump-shaped trend with MAP, NLD, and POP. Spatial prediction of SOC stocks from the RF model showed that there were 0.21 (0.20-0.22, 95% confidence intervals) Pg C in the top 30 cm of soil in urban greenspaces of China, which was 17% and 50% greater than estimated by SoilGrids250m v2.0 (0.18 Pg C) and HWSD v2.0 (0.14 Pg C), respectively. Our study provides valuable data support and scientific guidance for carbon neutrality and urban greenspaces ecosystem management in China.

Currently, only the results of a few example cities have been released. All results will be made available once the paper is accepted.The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is a critical region for the ecological and economic sustainability in China, which faces significant challenges from rapid urbanization, particularly the expansion of artificial impervious surfaces area (ISA). While existing many well-known ISA products (e.g., ESA-10m) offer foundational insights, their coarse spatial resolution limits accuracy, especially in fragmented landscapes and complex terrains. To this end, we map a 1-m very-high-resolution ISA product by means of AI techniques, called ISA-1, covering 36 cities in YREB, contributing to the community. ISA-1 is generated by integrating 10-m Sentinel-2 images with a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based super-resolution segmentation framework. Our approach overcomes the limitations of traditional methods, achieving a 10× spatial enhancement to resolve fine-grained urban structures and dispersed rural ISA features. Validation across 36 municipal-level administrative regions along the main stream of the Yangtze River shows that ISA-1 reduces ISA overestimation in densely urbanized areas (e.g., Shanghai, Suzhou) by 0.04%–36.15% compared with ESA-10m, while detecting 5.00% –81.74% more ISA in mountainous regions (e.g., Garzê, Liangshan), demonstrating superior capability in capturing small-scale artificial impervious surfaces. The model achieved an overall accuracy of 94.42%, with F1 scores of 96.64% (non-ISA) and 83.61% (ISA), outperforming existing mid-resolution products in both geometric precision and semantic consistency. This advancement not only enhances the monitoring of urbanization’s ecological impacts, such as altered hydrological cycles and biodiversity loss, but also provides a scalable, cost-effective solution for high-resolution ISA mapping

Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) Market Outlook

The global monoammonium phosphate (MAP) market size was valued at approximately USD 12 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 18 billion by 2032, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% during the forecast period. The market's growth is fueled by increasing demand in the agriculture sector, driven by the rising global population and the subsequent need for enhanced crop yields. As the world seeks to secure food sources for a growing population, MAP, being a key ingredient in fertilizers, plays a critical role.

One of the primary growth factors for the MAP market is the upsurge in agricultural activities worldwide. With the global population estimated to reach approximately 9.7 billion by 2050, there is a substantial need to increase agricultural productivity. MAP, rich in phosphorus and nitrogen, is integral to developing fertilizers that enhance soil nutrition and crop yield. This necessity is particularly pronounced in developing nations where food security remains a pressing concern. The agricultural sector’s increasing adoption of MAP fertilizers is further propelled by government initiatives supporting the agriculture industry, ensuring a steady demand for this compound.

Another significant growth factor is the diversification of MAP applications beyond agriculture, including its use in food and beverage industries. The food industry leverages food-grade MAP as a leavening agent and acidity regulator, boosting its demand. The global trend towards processed and convenience foods has heightened the need for such food additives, further driving the market. Moreover, industrial-grade MAP finds applications in various industrial processes, including fire retardants and water treatment solutions. This diversification into multiple industrial uses not only enhances market resilience but also expands potential growth avenues.

Technological advancements in MAP production processes have also contributed to market growth. Enhanced production techniques have led to higher efficiency, reduced costs, and minimized environmental impact, making MAP a more attractive option for a variety of applications. The development of innovative application methods in precision agriculture has made MAP fertilizers more effective, thereby encouraging their use. These technological innovations provide a competitive edge, propelling market growth as producers and consumers seek more efficient and sustainable solutions.

Regionally, the Asia Pacific dominates the MAP market, driven by large-scale agricultural practices in countries like China and India. Rapid urbanization and industrialization in these regions necessitate increased agricultural outputs, supporting the demand for MAP fertilizers. Additionally, favorable governmental policies and subsidies for fertilizer usage in these countries further bolster market growth. North America and Europe also represent significant markets, driven by advanced agricultural practices and a focus on sustainable farming. These regions actively engage in research to optimize fertilizer compositions, including MAP, to achieve maximum yield.

Product Grade Analysis

The product grade segment of the MAP market is categorized into industrial grade, food grade, and fertilizer grade. Industrial-grade MAP, used extensively in industries as a fire retardant and in water treatment processes, plays a crucial role in ensuring safety and environmental compliance. The demand for industrial-grade MAP is expected to grow steadily due to increasing industrial activities globally. These applications require MAP's specific chemical properties that make it suitable for controlling combustion and treating hard water, thus ensuring its consistent demand in the industrial sector.

Food-grade MAP is primarily utilized as a food additive, serving functions such as a leavening agent, acidity regulator, and nutritional supplement. The growing trend of consuming processed and packaged foods globally has significantly boosted the demand for food-grade MAP. With consumers increasingly seeking convenience without compromising on quality and safety, the food industry is relying more on reliable additives like MAP. This trend is particularly pronounced in developed economies, where the demand for high-quality food products is high.

Fertilizer-grade MAP represents the largest market share within the product grade segment. As a vital component of phosphate fertilizers, it is crucial for enhancing soil fertility and agricultural productivity. Given the global necessity to