Economic Survey 2021-22: Ch. 11 TRACKING DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SATELLITE IMAGES & CARTOGRAPHY

BIRD'S EYE VIEW

• An important theme of this year’s Economic Survey is the use of new forms of data and information for tracking economic activity and development.
• Chapter 1 looked at the use of high-frequency data for the real-time management of an economy through uncertain times.
• This chapter looks at the use of another kind of data – geospatial data and cartographic techniques – to track, compare and represent longer-term developments.
• The use of maps is not entirely new and previous Economic Surveys have used them for years, but there is now a plethora of information from satellites, drones, mobile phones and other sources. 
• This chapter illustrates some of the interesting ways of depicting geospatial data.
• Night-time luminosity provides an interesting representation of the expansion of electricity supply, the geographical distribution of population and economic activity, urban expansion as well as the growth of ribbon developments between urban hubs.
• Similarly, using geospatial and cartographic techniques, the subsequent maps show the extent of physical as well as financial infrastructure development in India. 
• While this chapter has restricted itself to static two-dimensional images due to practical considerations of publication, readers will be aware that dynamic and multi-dimensional cartography is now commonplace for everyday activities like ordering a taxi or looking for an address.