Atlas › United Arab Emirates › Urban growth

Dubai South

Desert graded into districts around Al Maktoum airport.

166.5 hectares changed — new construction · Before: 1 Nov 2017 – 28 Feb 2018 · After: 1 Nov 2023 – 28 Feb 2024 · 24.890, 55.160

BEFORE 2018-02

AFTER 2024-02

Drag to compare

166.5 haarea changed

47areas flagged

6,416 haarea examined

2satellites used

What changed, by type

134.9 haNew construction / earthworks

20.5 haNew vegetation

10.6 haNew water / flooding

0.5 haVegetation cleared

Land changes in both directions at once. SCOPE reports every type it measured, not only the one that makes the better headline.

What SCOPE found

New construction / earthworks — 75.9 ha
3.6 km south-west · between 9 Jan 2018 and 9 Nov 2023 · 96% sure

New construction / earthworks — 20.6 ha
3.6 km east · between 9 Jan 2018 and 9 Nov 2023 · 95% sure

New vegetation — 8.6 ha
1.3 km south-west · between 9 Jan 2018 and 9 Nov 2023 · 96% sure

New vegetation — 3.9 ha
4.0 km south-west · between 9 Jan 2018 and 9 Nov 2023 · 96% sure

New construction / earthworks — 3.7 ha
3.8 km south · between 9 Jan 2018 and 9 Nov 2023 · 96% sure

How sure is this?

The strongest area (#1) has 96% confidence. It appears in 6 of 6 later clear images, so it is not a one-day artefact. Radar confirmed some of these areas; the others rest on optical and seasonal evidence. Confidence measures how strong the evidence for real surface change is; it does not identify the cause or who did it.

How it was measured

SCOPE used Sentinel-2 optical imagery at 10 m, cloud-masked and combined over each period, Sentinel-1 radar as an independent check , and the same season in earlier years so normal seasonal change is not reported as real change. The analysis took 14 seconds.

Now try it on a place you know

If SCOPE is right about somewhere you know well, you can trust it somewhere you do not. 5 scans a day, free, no card.

Scan your own place