High Resolution Population Distribution Maps for Southeast Asia in 2010 and 2015

TLDR

Accurate, up‑to‑date population maps are essential, yet Southeast Asia’s rapid urban growth is poorly captured by outdated census‑based datasets. The study aims to develop fine‑scale (~100 m) GIS‑linked population distribution maps for Southeast Asia using 2010 census data. Using Landsat‑derived settlement and land‑cover maps together with infrastructure data, the authors modeled 2010 and 2015 population distributions and benchmarked them against two other global datasets. Incorporating land cover and settlement data improves mapping accuracy, enabling the production of detailed, up‑to‑date, freely available population distribution datasets for Southeast Asia.

Abstract

Spatially accurate, contemporary data on human population distributions are vitally important to many applied and theoretical researchers. The Southeast Asia region has undergone rapid urbanization and population growth over the past decade, yet existing spatial population distribution datasets covering the region are based principally on population count data from censuses circa 2000, with often insufficient spatial resolution or input data to map settlements precisely. Here we outline approaches to construct a database of GIS-linked circa 2010 census data and methods used to construct fine-scale (∼100 meters spatial resolution) population distribution datasets for each country in the Southeast Asia region. Landsat-derived settlement maps and land cover information were combined with ancillary datasets on infrastructure to model population distributions for 2010 and 2015. These products were compared with those from two other methods used to construct commonly used global population datasets. Results indicate mapping accuracies are consistently higher when incorporating land cover and settlement information into the AsiaPop modelling process. Using existing data, it is possible to produce detailed, contemporary and easily updatable population distribution datasets for Southeast Asia. The 2010 and 2015 datasets produced are freely available as a product of the AsiaPop Project and can be downloaded from: www.asiapop.org.