A database of satellite-derived urbanicity classes for nine Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Cameroon, and Zambia

The definition of urban and rural areas differs across countries, which is evident in household surveys conducted in low- and middle-income countries. This lack of consistency and variation poses challenges for comparative analyses of the relationship between urbanization and health outcomes. Additionally, the binary urban-rural dichotomy fails to acknowledge the existence of an urban-rural continuum, encompassing remote rural areas, semi-urban suburbs, and core urban areas. By utilizing satellite-based datasets, it is possible to employ objective and continuous measures that quantify the level of urbanization with high spatial resolution. We utilize geospatial techniques to derive alternative classifications of the urban continuum from satellite data across nine household surveys conducted from 2005 to 2019 in six African countries and provide the database here

各国城乡区域的定义并不统一，这一现象在低收入与中等收入国家的家庭调查中尤为凸显。此类定义的不一致性与地域差异，为城市化与健康结局间关联的比较分析带来了诸多挑战。此外，传统二元对立的城乡二分法，未能正视城乡连续谱的客观存在——该连续谱涵盖偏远农村、半城市郊区与核心城区。通过运用基于卫星的数据集，我们能够采用客观且连续的测度方法，以高空间分辨率量化城市化水平。本研究借助地理空间技术，针对2005年至2019年间6个非洲国家开展的9项家庭调查的卫星数据，推导得到城乡连续谱的替代分类方案，并在此发布本数据库。