Spatially Distributed Land-Use Efficiency Assessment under SDG Indicator 11.3.1: The Case of Greater Manila Area, Philippines

Jojene Santillan, Meriam Makinano-Santillan

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 11.3.1 assesses urban land-use efficiency (LUE) through the relationship between land consumption rate (LCR) and population growth rate (PGR), commonly expressed as LCRPGR. However, city-level implementation produces a single value that can mask where efficient or inefficient urban development occurs. This study develops and demonstrates a spatially distributed approach to LUE assessment. Using the Greater Manila Area, Philippines, as a case study for 2000–2020, 100 m built-up area and population grids from the Global Human Settlement Layer were used to calculate local LCR, PGR, LCRPGR, and LUE regimes at the grid-cell level. Cells with valid initial built-up area and population values were assessed using the conventional LCR–PGR relationship, while cells transitioning from negligible to measurable values were classified as urban emergence zones. The resulting maps show that although aggregate LCRPGR indicates efficient land use at the metropolitan scale, cell-level analysis reveals localized inefficient expansion, population decline under stable or expanding built-up surfaces, and joint built-up and population emergence hidden in aggregate SDG 11.3.1 values.