Satellite Imagery of a Decade's Transformation

Trends in land use and development are made obvious with satellite imagery tracking changes during the 2010s.

1 minute read

January 1, 2020, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Copernicus Sentinel Data

New Orleans, as seen in 2019 with help from Copernicus Sentinel Data. | lavizzara / Shutterstock

Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui of The New York Times, worked with Tim Wallace and Krishna Karra from Descartes Labs, a geospatial analytics company to track trends in development over the past decade.

"With [satellite imagery's] growing power and precision, we can see both intimate details — a single home, bulldozed; a tennis court, reinvented — and big patterns that recur across the country," write Badger and Bui.

The trends they spot from above are illustrated in the source article, but they read as follows:

  • The Exurbs Boom Again
  • The Urban Core, Redeveloped
  • Diversity Becomes the Norm
  • Big Tech's Imprint
  • Big Tech's Big Boxes
  • Rust Belt Homes, Demolished
  • Transit Transformations
  • After Disaster, Renewal

Friday, December 27, 2019 in The New York Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Green electric Volkswagen van against a beach backdrop.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan

Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

March 3, 2025 - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

View of mountains with large shrubs in foreground in Altadena, California.

Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.

March 9 - Pasadena NOw

Aerial view of single-family homes with swimming pools in San Diego, California.

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule

The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

March 9 - Axios

Close-up of row of electric cars plugged into chargers at outdoor station.

Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives

A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.

March 9 - UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation