Development of a Deep Urban Time Series Using Historical Aerial Photos to Document the Evolution of Recreational Urban Spaces

Developing urban time series using satellite images have been shown as effective in studying urban development over time. However, satellite imagery only dates back 38 years. Introducing a new collaborative research method, we show how historical aerial photos might be used to develop a deep urban time series with usable spatial detail over 100 years, and how the deep time series can be used for historical social science research. A case study is conducted to understand how recreational zones and "green spaces" developed over the later 20th century in a typical small city in Canada. Successful results from our promising methodology demonstrat that utilizing historical aerial photos and combining social history and geomatics engineering methods can expand tools for remote sensing, significantly advancing social researchers’ ability to address urban planning complexities.