UNESCO Cultural Heritage 3D Building Dataset

Building footprint and height data were obtained from the latest global 3D building database. The building footprint data originated from Microsoft and Google datasets. Building height information was estimated using an XGBoost machine learning regression model that integrates multi-source remote sensing features. The height estimation model was trained using datasets from ONEGEO Map, Microsoft, Baidu, and EMU Analytics, utilizing 2020 data for the final estimations. Validation of this database demonstrates that the height estimation models perform exceptionally well at a global scale across both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The estimated heights closely match reference height data, especially for landmark buildings, showcasing superior accuracy compared to other global height products. The 3D building data that support this dataset are available in Zenodo DOI:10.5194/essd-16-5357-2024 (Che, Y., Li, X., Liu, X., Wang, Y., Liao, W., Zheng, X., Zhang, X., Xu, X., Shi, Q., Zhu, J., Yuan, H., and Dai, Y. 3D-GloBFP: the first global three-dimensional building footprint dataset. Earth System Science Data)Based on the 3D building database, we verify the locations and boundaries of individual cultural heritage sites and their buffer zones using UNESCO's heritage map platform (https://whc.unesco.org/), and categorize heritage into three groups for data extraction:Broad Scale Sites: For sites encompassing continuous building clusters or portions of cities (e.g., City of Bath), we extract buildings within the designated buffer zones provided by the UNESCO platform.Single Building Sites: For individual monuments or structures (e.g., Tower of London), we precisely extract the building footprints based on their exact coordinates.Multiple Dispersed Buildings: For sites consisting of multiple, non-contiguous structures (e.g., Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, Poland), we identify each location using the platform’s data and verify them through Google Maps before extracting the relevant buildings.A few linear heritage sites, such as extensive archaeological routes spanning over a thousand kilometers, are excluded due to the complexities associated with their vast spatial extent and the variability of climate conditions across different segments.The effective data coverage varies across continents: Europe and North America have an effective rate of 82.5%, Asia and the Pacific 68.3%, Latin America and the Caribbean 75.7%, Arab States 76.5%, and Africa 49.2%. This variability reflects differences in data availability. In less developed regions, remote sensing data tends to overlook non-urban heritage sites, and soil and rock structures common in Africa and Southeast Asia are more difficult to detect using satellite remote sensing techniques, leading to lower effective data coverage in these regions.This dataset accompanies the following published article:Chen, Zihua, Gao, Qian, Wu, Yajing, Li, Jiaxin, Li, Xiaowei, Li, Xiao, Wang, Zhenbo, & Cui, Haiyang (2025). World Cultural Heritage sites are under climate stress and no emissions mitigation pathways can uniformly protect them. Communications Earth & Environment, 6:628. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02603-8