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Population, demography and nighttime lights: An examination of the effects of population decline on settlement patterns in Europe

Archila Bustos, Maria Francisca LU (2014) SGEM04 20141
Department of Human Geography
Abstract
Nighttime satellite photographs of Earth reveal the location of lighting and provide a unique and highly accurate view of human settlement, density and distribution. Nighttime lights have been shown to correlate with economic development and population worldwide. Little research has been done on the link between nighttime lights and population change over time. This link is explored here for Europe between the period of 1992 and 2012 using GIS and regression analysis. This thesis examines whether population change, and specifically population decline, is reflected in nighttime lights or whether other demographic developments which have accompanied population decline in Europe are better reflected in nighttime lights. The results suggest... (More)
Nighttime satellite photographs of Earth reveal the location of lighting and provide a unique and highly accurate view of human settlement, density and distribution. Nighttime lights have been shown to correlate with economic development and population worldwide. Little research has been done on the link between nighttime lights and population change over time. This link is explored here for Europe between the period of 1992 and 2012 using GIS and regression analysis. This thesis examines whether population change, and specifically population decline, is reflected in nighttime lights or whether other demographic developments which have accompanied population decline in Europe are better reflected in nighttime lights. The results suggest that population decline in Europe is not coupled with decline in nighttime lights. Demographic and structural changes consistent with population decline in Europe may contribute to the divergence between population and nighttime lights. The age structure of the population and the GDP show correlation with lighting during periods of growing and declining population. These results suggest that human settlement distribution in Europe is more closely related to the age structure of the population and to GDP than to the size of the population and that declining populations will not lead to reductions in the human footprint on Earth. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Archila Bustos, Maria Francisca LU
supervisor
organization
course
SGEM04 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
nighttime lights, demographic transition, population decline, human settlement distribution
language
English
id
4457536
date added to LUP
2014-09-03 18:12:36
date last changed
2014-09-03 18:12:36
@misc{4457536,
  abstract     = {{Nighttime satellite photographs of Earth reveal the location of lighting and provide a unique and highly accurate view of human settlement, density and distribution. Nighttime lights have been shown to correlate with economic development and population worldwide. Little research has been done on the link between nighttime lights and population change over time. This link is explored here for Europe between the period of 1992 and 2012 using GIS and regression analysis. This thesis examines whether population change, and specifically population decline, is reflected in nighttime lights or whether other demographic developments which have accompanied population decline in Europe are better reflected in nighttime lights. The results suggest that population decline in Europe is not coupled with decline in nighttime lights. Demographic and structural changes consistent with population decline in Europe may contribute to the divergence between population and nighttime lights. The age structure of the population and the GDP show correlation with lighting during periods of growing and declining population. These results suggest that human settlement distribution in Europe is more closely related to the age structure of the population and to GDP than to the size of the population and that declining populations will not lead to reductions in the human footprint on Earth.}},
  author       = {{Archila Bustos, Maria Francisca}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Population, demography and nighttime lights: An examination of the effects of population decline on settlement patterns in Europe}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}