A large-scale extraction framework for mapping urban in-formal settlements using remote sensing and semantic segmentation

Abstract

Urban informal settlements (UISs) are densely populated and poorly developed residential areas in urban areas. The mapping of UISs using remote sensing is crucial for urban planning and management. However, the large-scale extraction of UISs is impeded by the labor-intensive task of collecting numerous training samples and the lack of automatic and effective city partition. To overcome these challenges, we proposed a large-scale extraction framework for UISs based on semantic segmentation of high-resolution remote sensing images. Utilizing Deeplab V3 Plus as the foundational extraction model, the proposed framework introduces fast sample collection based on GLCM features. Besides, an automatic city partition approach combined with clustering and fine-tuning was proposed to enhance the performance on extracting a specific category of UISs. The results of the case study conducted in 36 major Chinese cities show that the proposed framework achieved good performance, with an overall F1 score of 85.76%. Furthermore, comparative assessments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of automatic city partition. The proposed framework offers a practical approach for the large-scale extraction of UISs, which holds great significance for sustainable development, poverty estimation, infrastructure construction, and urban planning.

Keywords:

• Urban informal settlement
• large scale
• remote sensing
• China

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the suggestions and comments from anonymous reviewers, which greatly improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory of Land Environment and Disaster Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, China University of Mining and Technology (No. LEDM2021B08); National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFF1303405).