Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41698900›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Satellite mapping of every building's function in urban China reveals deep built environment disparities.

Zhuohong Li, Linxin Li, Ting Hu, Mofan Cheng, Wei He, Tong Qiu, Liangpei Zhang, Hongyan Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Zhuohong Li *State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
Linxin Li *State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
Ting Hu *School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, PR China.
Mofan ChengState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-0749-7669
Wei HeState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
Tong QiuNicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. tong.qiu@duke.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4499-437X
Liangpei ZhangAerospace Information Research Institute, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China. zlp62@whu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-4894-2552
Hongyan ZhangSchool of Computer Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China. zhanghongyan@cug.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0000-5074-0873

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42201377National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42230108National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42271370
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Decades of rapid urbanization have reshaped China's cities, yet fine-scale built environment disparities remain unclear due to scarce building-level data. Here, we present SinoBF-1, a national building functional map of China that delineates 110 million buildings across 109 major cities using 1-meter multi-modal satellite data. Using nine indicators spanning urbanization intensity, facility accessibility, and infrastructure sufficiency, we quantify disparities across city tiers, geographic regions, and intra-city zones. Analyses reveal that: (1) Across city tiers, accessibility and amenity diversity decline sharply from top- to low-tier cities, while mid tiers show more equitable housing allocation; (2) Geographically, southern cities exhibit the highest access to healthcare, education, and public services but suffer from infrastructure overcrowding; and (3) Within cities, later-expanding zones exhibit greater disparities than early-established urban cores. This study reflects legacies of national development policies over the past half-century and offers a framework for evaluating urban inequality in rapidly urbanizing regions.

Identifiers

PMID41698900
PMCPMC13022422

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.