Spatiotemporal impact of urban development on nighttime light intensity and its hotspot distribution

Abstract

Nighttime light (NTL) data serve as a valuable proxy for accessing urbanization and socio-economic activities at various scales. This study investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of NTL intensity in Taipei City from January 2018 to June 2023 using data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) via the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. A grid system comprising 1,211 cells (500-m resolution) was established to integrate land use, road networks, population, electricity consumption, and business prosperity into temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal models using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations (INLA). Additionally, spatiotemporal patterns were analyzed through the space–time cube in ArcGIS Pro. This finding highlights the strong influence of commercial activities and electricity consumption on NTL intensity, with persistent hotspots in commercial and industrial areas and cold spots in forested and agricultural zones. This study underscores the potential of NTL data to capture the interplay between urbanization, land use, and socioeconomic factors. Emphasizing land use as a central analytical focus provides a scalable framework for future urban studies and policy development that can be applied to diverse urban contexts.