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GCRICities and Built EnvironmentIn development
STEM foundation

STEM foundation of Cities and Built Environment

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics Cities and Built Environment rests on. Each method has a canonical page in the STEM Commons, hosted by GCRI, and a page here on how it is applied in this field.

Open Structural engineering for cities Back to Cities and Built Environment
Publisher
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Field
Cities and built environment, Critical infrastructure, Society and human development
Canvas · methods feeding this platformDesign, not a record
STEM foundation of Cities and Built Environment: asset register to adaptation optionsThe asset register is overlaid on hazard layers to find exposure; vulnerability classes turn exposure into expected damage; assets are ranked and adaptation options costed into the capital plan. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig.The methods this platform draws on and what each one feeds. Design, not a record.

01In brief

The short answer.

The Cities and Built Environment STEM foundation is the set of canonical methods its findings depend on, from structural and earthquake engineering to water and environmental engineering. For the Consortium, Cities and Built Environment stewards structural and earthquake engineering as well as urban and transport engineering. Each method has a canonical STEM Commons page and a page here on its use in the cities and built environment field.

02Geography

Urban signals in India.

For STEM foundation of cities and built environment, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with built-up and settlement extent from NASA GIBS, framed on India; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Urban signals, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For STEM foundation of cities and built environment, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, population density and true-colour imagery with built-up and settlement extent from NASA GIBS, framed on India; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASESources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • Context: CIESIN/Columbia, NASA SEDAC HBASE. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, and NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): Global Human Built-up And Settlement Extent (HBASE) 2010; Seto, Guneralp and Hutyra 2012, Global Grid of Probabilities of Urban Expansion to 2030; Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013.
  • Optional layers (17 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03Methods

The methods behind the field.

  1. Structural and earthquake engineeringUrban building vulnerability profiles · Retrofit of schools and housingSteward · Cities and Built EnvironmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  2. Urban and transport engineeringAccessibility analysis · Safe street design · Flood-resilient transportSteward · Cities and Built EnvironmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  3. Geospatial information systemsUrban exposure databases · Community mapping · Hazard overlay for planningSteward · Space and Earth ObservationApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  4. Spatial statistics and geostatisticsSmall-area estimation · Spatial clustering of disadvantage · Interpolating urban temperatureSteward · Space and Earth ObservationApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  5. Social and behavioural scienceHousing and tenure surveys · Participatory planning research · Displacement studiesSteward · Society and Human DevelopmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  6. Earth and geophysical scienceSeismic microzonation · Urban subsidence monitoring · Landslide hazard on urban slopesSteward · Climate and HazardsApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  7. Sensors, IoT and observation networksLow-cost air and heat sensors · Drain and flood sensors · Privacy in urban sensingSteward · Critical InfrastructureApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  8. Energy generation, storage and grid technologyBuilding energy and overheating · Rooftop solar potential · Energy poverty mappingSteward · Energy NexusApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  9. Water and environmental engineeringUrban drainage design · Sanitation for unserved areas · Waste and drainage linksSteward · Water NexusApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
04Method mix

Why urban needs this combination of methods.

Urban risk work combines structural and urban transport engineering, geospatial and spatial statistics for mapping, social science for people, geoscience for ground conditions, sensing for monitoring, and energy and environmental engineering for services.

05Why it matters

Grounding makes claims checkable.

When a finding names the methods it depends on, a reader can see its assumptions and limits, and an expert in that method can challenge it.

06Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
STEM CommonsThe shared reference of science, technology, engineering and mathematics methods for the Nexus network, hosted by GCRI, with one canonical page per method and a named steward platform.
Steward platformThe platform that maintains the canonical description of a method in the STEM Commons and reviews how other platforms apply it.
Structural and earthquake engineeringStructural and earthquake engineering designs buildings, bridges and other structures to carry loads safely, including those from earthquakes, wind and floods.
Urban and transport engineeringUrban and transport engineering plans and designs cities and the networks that move people and goods.
07Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

08Pages

Pages in STEM foundation of Cities and Built Environment.

Method

Structural engineering for cities

Method

Urban transport engineering

Method

Geospatial methods for cities

Method

Spatial statistics for cities

Method

Social science for cities

Method

Geoscience for cities

Method

Urban sensing and IoT

Method

Energy technology for buildings

Method

Environmental engineering for cities

09Questions

Questions and answers.

What is a steward platform?
The platform that maintains the canonical description of a method and reviews how it is applied across the Consortium.
Related

Around Cities and Built Environment.

Cities and Built Environment

Bring your expertise to this field.

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