Shiyan, China
Cities
The population of China has been urbanizing at a rapid rate. In 1978, less than 20% of China’s population lived in cities. In 2015, more than 55% of the population of China was urban, and that rate is climbing. By 2030, the country’s urbanization is projected to reach 70%. That will be about 1 billion people living in cities in China.
The Shiyan Municipality, Hubei Province, presents an interesting example of urbanization. The population of Shiyan increased from 333,089 in 1990, to 724,016 in 2010, and to 879,000 in 2021. To accommodate the increased urbanization in the Shiyan region, as in other regions of China, engineers have found an innovative way to create more land for building—flattening mountaintops.
This Landsat series of natural color images shows the rapid development occurring on leveled land around Shiyan, along with changes seen to the Danjiangkou Reservoir nearby.
Location
Apr. 17, 1987, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Apr. 12, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
May 17, 2004, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
May 23, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Apr. 26, 2008, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
May 2, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Apr. 14, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Apr. 16, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Apr. 30, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/37) — Shiyan, China
Shiyan, China Additional Imagery & Stories
Canal
On the east end of the largest portion of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, a bright line extends to the east and north. This canal takes water from the rese...
Danjiangkou Reservoir
Visible in these images is one canal associated with the $62 billion South-North Water Transfer Project. Water resources are a concern in China becaus...
Environmental Problems
Images from Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites show a bit more detail than Landsat. These close-up views of Shiyan show the industrial developm...
Land Leveling
Shiyan, China, was a small village in the mountains until the 1960s. That’s when a lot of industrial production was established there in its relativel...
References
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World Bank and the Development Research Center of the State Council, P.R. China, 2014, Urban China—Toward Efficient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Urbanization: World Bank, Washington, DC, 547 p. Also available online at http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/publication/urban-china-toward-efficient-inclusive-sustainable-urbanization.
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