River-Oriented Urban Development in 371 Chinese Cities (1992–2021)

This dataset provides city-level indicators and statistical results of river-oriented urban development across 371 administrative units in China from 1992 to 2021. It integrates two complementary dimensions of urban development derived from publicly available satellite observations: impervious surface area (ISA), representing physical urban expansion, and nighttime lights (NTL), serving as a proxy for human activity intensity. It includes statistical indicators characterizing the spatial and temporal patterns of urban development along river corridors, together with the Coupling Development Index (CDI), which summarizes the combined river-oriented development characteristics of these two dimensions.