https://maps.depopulacija.rs/spatial-lighting/content/index.html
The satellite images of nightlights are an indirect tool for tracking population changes and trends. They indicate where development is concentrated, i.e. where the population and activities are located. An analysis of nightlights over a long period of time reveals various spatial processes. Where the intensity of lighting or radiance is weak, areas are gradually “extinct” – the “captured” activity and population are declining. For this purpose, two variants of the indicator have been defined and the following data were used to calculate them: Version 1 VIIRS Day/Night Band Nighttime Lights [Earth Observation Group (EOG); Colorado Mining School] and administrative division (GeoSrbija [National Data Infrastructure, Republic Geodetic Authority]). The data about mean annual radiance for 2015 and mean annual radiance in period 2015–2019 were used in analysis. In the first case, data set for 2015, a background (non-lights) was sets to zero. In the second case, dataset for 2015–2019, a treshold of 1 nW cm$^-$$^2$ sr$^-$$^1$ is assumed for no lights or low population activity.
The Sum of Lights (SOL)indicates the total intensity of activity in an area. Tracked over a longer period of time, it indicates the directions of development expansion, as well as the gradual “extinction” of some areas. This indicator was used to assess the development level of municipalities in Serbia. The total radiance in the territory of Serbia, observed at the settlement level, reveals a clear division of the country into a “developed North” and an “undeveloped South”. The strongest light intensity was registered in the Belgrade and Novi Sad region, the Danube valley, Posavina and Pomoravlje. To the south of the Peri-Pannonian realm, the level of lighting drops drastically. The least intensive activity was observed in the peripheral southern and southwestern parts of Serbia, mostly marked by traditionally underdeveloped areas, which is reciprocal to the population dynamics in these areas. Observed over a five-year period (2015–2019), a division between development poles and less developed and depressed areas has been established, with a tendency to mitigate differences by “strengthening” some regional centres and their immediate surroundings.
The share of Lighted areas (LA) in total area of settlements/municipalities in Serbia indicates the intensity of population dynamics in an area. Zones of increased population concentration have been identified, as well as zones of depopulation. According to the data for 2015, an increased population concentration is limited to the Belgrade and Novi Sad region, the Danube valley, Posavina and Pomoravlje. On the other hand, the settlements with a small share of lighted areas are the most widespread in the peripheral parts of the country: in southwestern parts of Serbia, in the contact zone with Kosovo and Metohija, Stara Planina Mt., the border zone of southeast Serbia, the Homolje region and Braničevo in East Serbia and Valjevo mountains in West Serbia. A data analysis for 2015–2019 shows a clear population polarisation in the territory of Serbia in favour of the urban poles of the Pomoravlje, Belgrade and Novi Sad regions. The zone of “shrinking” settlements, i.e. those with the lowest intensity of radiance, was rapidly expanding over a five-year period, narrowing and highlighting the zone of increased radiance intensity. In the peripheral parts of Serbia, population activity is decreasing, and the areas are gaining depopulation traits.
<aside> 📝 Incomplete spatial coverage of the indicator values is a consequence of limitations in the used data sources: lack of administrative boundaries of settlements for the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. For the municipal level, the entire research area is covered.
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Preuzimanje podataka / Download data
<aside> *️⃣ All references to Kosovo shall be understood in full compliance with UNSC Resolution 1244 (1999).
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This web site has been produced with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) support, within the Depopulation Data Challenge Call. The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the team “Geoanalitičari” and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNDP, UNFPA, nor GIZ.
