The Urban World is an observatory of urban complexity. It tells the story of global urbanization through data, making visible the shape, density, and growth of cities over time.
We transform satellite-derived datasets into interactive visualizations that reveal how cities have evolved from 1975 to 2030. By combining population grids, density analysis, and radial profiling, we offer a multiscale view of urbanization — from the global pattern down to the neighborhood.
The Urban World is a project by Urbancodes, a studio focused on urban data and spatial analysis.
All data processing is transparent and reproducible. Our pipeline transforms publicly available datasets — primarily from the European Commission's Global Human Settlement Layer — into the formats that power this observatory.