The dataset provides the following: 1) Area of 194 cities' urban extents for the year 2015, 2) Area of 50 cities' urban extents for years 1995, 2005 and 2015, 3) Population for 50 cities for years 2005 and 2015 - the source of population is LandScan within the Atlas city boundaries.
The Punjab Cities Growth Atlas provides a unique perspective to our cities. For the first time in Punjab, the urban extents of all cities have been spatially demarcated in this atlas. These extents reflect the functional boundaries of Punjab's cities in contrast to the administrative boundaries of the Punjab local government system.
Most of the world has been focusing on population size to identify urban areas and to assess the level of urbanization; this Atlas presents another dimension to measuring urbanization through urban expansion - the increase in the area of the urban extents of cities. The total urban area of Punjab's cities has expanded 3 times from 1995 to 2015. This expansion has predominantly occurred at the cost of dwindling population densities.