Integrated Geospatial Information on Canadian Urbanization and 
Potential Applications in Urban Environment Studies

Ying Zhang and Bert Guindon
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada
588 Booth Street, Ottawa


Canada has undergone rapid urbanization over the past 40 years and now has about 80% of its population living 
in urbanized areas. To address urban sustainability issues such as energy consumption, land conversion and 
related human and eco-health from a federal perspective, integrated, national-level information on urban land 
use / land cover (LCLU) characterization and urban growth is needed. Over the past 3 years a national urban 
database, the Canadian Urban Land Use Survey (CUrLUS), has been created at the Canada Centre for Remote 
Sensing. The foundation of CUrLUS is LCLU information derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper images, however it 
also incorporates other layers drawn both from federal sources including the census, historic land use change 
AND topography as well as high resolution EO image data.

This presentation will begin with a description of the content and integration challenges faced in the 
development of CUrLUS. The initial use of the database has been directed at the assessment of impacts of urban 
form on energy use. Example results from previous studies related to transportation activity will be presented 
as well as current investigations in the characterization of urban heat islands and their impacts on energy 
demand for building cooling. CUrLUS has significant potential to address broad spectrum of urban issues. The 
presentation will conclude with proposals for its employment in range of environmental applications including 
characterization of the influence on the urban atmosphere, associated with land cover & land use, human 
activities and urban growth.