Datasets

All datasets published by the Urban Data Center attach to a common set of Urban Agglomeration boundaries. The catalog below lists every available dataset with its grain, format, and version. The methodology paper covering boundary construction is forthcoming. See releases for the full changelog.

Our boundaries and datasets come at three different levels of granularity.

DDL Global Urban Boundary

Mega-agglomerations are one unit.

e.g. Delhi + Gurgaon + Faridabad + etc. are all one unit

Unique identifier: ua_id

ADM1 splits

Mega-agglomerations are divided at global ADM1 boundaries.

e.g. Delhi State, Delhi (Haryana), Delhi (UP) are each a separate unit

Unique identifier: ua_id + adm1_split_id

ADM2 splits

Mega-agglomerations are divided at global ADM2 boundaries.

e.g. Each district of Delhi is a separate unit

Unique identifier: ua_id + adm2_split_id

Urban Agglomerations and administrative splits

Each dataset is keyed to either a parent Urban Agglomeration boundary or to an administrative split of that boundary. ADM1 and ADM2 splits are derived by intersecting the parent UA polygon with administrative boundaries from GADM.

ADM splits are only produced for agglomerations where a meaningful partition exists. Specifically:

  • An ADM1 split is included only when the UA spans more than one GADM ADM1 unit. If the entire agglomeration falls within a single province or state, no ADM1 split entry is generated.
  • An ADM2 split follows the same rule at the district or county level — the UA must span at least two ADM2 units to produce a split.

As a result, small or compact cities may have a UA boundary record but no corresponding ADM1 or ADM2 split records. This is expected, not a data gap.