Identification of Socio-economic Activities as Urban Growth based on Nighttime Light Data (Study on Kendal District - Indonesia)

Indonesia's urban growth is accelerating due to improvements in infrastructure, utilities, and transportation networks. The activity of individuals over a longer period of time might indicate urbanity activity. The higher the amount of urbanization, the longer the communal activities lasted, even until late at night. Nighttime community activities need the use of an electric light in a public place or settlement. The usage of light at night signified urban community activity. The intercalibration model is used in this research to correct and use the long time series of VIIRS/DNB data. This article estimates the pattern of urban growth based on nighttime light (NTL) illumination from 2014 to 2022. This research combined current geo-referenced population growth rate information, the proportion of poor people, revenue from property and building taxes for the rural sector and urban sector, and it as our measurement to calculate the socio-economic activities and examine city coverage dispersion. Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to evaluate the role of socio-economic determinants of urban growth in Kendal. The results found that urban activities are related to population growth, the proportion of poor people, and land and building tax revenue. Identification of urban growth in Kendal District can be known by applying remote sensing satellite imagery, using the concept of nighttime lights on the brightness of the lights.