1 Urbanization around the Pearl River Estuary in China from 1973 through 2001 The region around the Pearl River Estuary in southern China experienced rapid urban growth in the 1980s and 1990s. This growth was spurred by the establishment of special government economic zones, particularly in Shenzhen, just to the east of the estuary. Urban areas increased by more than 300% between 1988 and 1996. This growth can be directly assessed by remote sensing measurements from space, particularly by comparing images from the Landsat sensors for the last thirty years. This animation shows nine such images in sequence, from the years 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2001. Animation (2048x2048) Urban growth in the Pearl River Estuary near Shenzhen, China, from 1973 to 2001 as measured by Landsat 1 0 1973-12-25 2010-12-23T23:59:59Z 1973-12-25 1 1 1973-12-25 1975-12-23T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0001.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1975-12-24 1 1 1975-12-24 1977-02-09T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0002.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1977-02-10 1 1 1977-02-10 1979-11-05T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0003.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1979-11-06 1 1 1979-11-06 1988-12-09T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0004.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1988-12-10 1 1 1988-12-10 1992-01-19T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0005.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1992-01-20 1 1 1992-01-20 1995-12-29T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0006.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 1995-12-30 1 1 1995-12-30 2000-01-01T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0007.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 2000-01-02 1 1 2000-01-02 2001-11-19T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0008.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858 2001-11-20 1 1 2001-11-20 2010-12-23T23:59:59Z http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002911/frames/2048x2048/pearl-0009.png 22.369052 22.934218 113.523622 114.088858