Detecting Urban Markets with Satellite Imagery: An Application to India

Kathryn Baragwanath Vogel, Ran Goldblatt, Gordon Hanson and Amit Khandelwal

No 24796, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We propose a methodology for defining urban markets based on built-up land-cover 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.

JEL-codes: O1 O18 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
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Published as Baragwanath, Kathryn & Goldblatt, Ran & Hanson, Gordon & Khandelwal, Amit K., 2021. "Detecting urban markets with satellite imagery: An application to India," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

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Journal Article: Detecting urban markets with satellite imagery: An application to India (2021)
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