Pandey Bhartendu, Brelsford Christa, Seto Karen C
Geospatial Science and Human Security Division, National Security Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, Oak Ridge, USA.
Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 30;16(1):1193. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56539-w.
Impending global urban population growth is expected to occur with considerable infrastructure expansion. However, our understanding of attendant infrastructure inequalities is limited, highlighting a critical knowledge gap in the sustainable development implications of urbanization. Using satellite data from 2000 to 2019, we examine country-level population-adjusted biases in infrastructure distribution within and between regions of varying urbanization levels and derive four key findings. First, we find long-run positive associations between infrastructure inequalities and both urbanization and economic development. Second, our estimates highlight increasing infrastructure inequalities across most of the countries examined. Third, we find greater future infrastructure inequality increases in the global south, where inequalities will rise more in countries with substantial urban primacy. Fourth, we find that infrastructure inequality may evolve differently than economic inequalities. Overall, advancing sustainable development vis-à-vis urbanization and economic development will require intentional infrastructure planning for spatial equity.
预计全球城市人口即将增长，同时基础设施也会大规模扩张。然而，我们对随之而来的基础设施不平等的了解有限，这凸显了城市化可持续发展影响方面的一个关键知识空白。利用2000年至2019年的卫星数据，我们研究了不同城市化水平地区内部和地区之间基础设施分布中经人口调整的国家层面偏差，并得出四项关键发现。第一，我们发现基础设施不平等与城市化和经济发展之间存在长期的正相关关系。第二，我们的估计突出了在所研究的大多数国家中基础设施不平等现象日益加剧。第三，我们发现全球南方未来基础设施不平等加剧的情况更为严重，在城市首位度较高的国家，不平等加剧的幅度更大。第四，我们发现基础设施不平等的演变可能与经济不平等不同。总体而言，推进城市化和经济发展方面的可持续发展将需要为空间公平进行有意识的基础设施规划。
