Detecting urban markets with satellite imagery: An application to India

Kathryn Baragwanath, Ran Goldblatt, Gordon Hanson and Amit Khandelwal

Journal of Urban Economics, 2021, vol. 125, issue C

Abstract: We propose a methodology for defining urban markets based on builtup landcover classified from daytime satellite imagery. Compared to markets defined using minimum thresholds for nighttime light intensity, daytime imagery identify an order of magnitude more markets, capture more of India’s urban population, are more realistically jagged in shape, and reveal more variation in the spatial distribution of economic activity. We conclude that daytime satellite data are a promising source for the study of urban forms.

Keywords: Satellite; Landsat; Nightlight data; Market access; Cities; Urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 O18 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: Detecting Urban Markets with Satellite Imagery: An Application to India (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juecon:v:125:y:2021:i:c:s0094119019300427

DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2019.05.004

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