Berlin: land change, 2016–2025
Two Sentinel-2 satellite images of a 20 km square around Berlin, from 2016-08-27 and 2025-07-01, were classified by a ResNet18 model trained on EuroSAT. Every 640 m cell is put in one of four land-cover groups, and the two dates are compared cell by cell.
- Before
- 2016-08-27
- After
- 2025-07-01
- Area analysed
- 394 km²
Change
+61.8 km²net change in built-up area
In cells the model is sure of on both dates (confidence ≥ 0.8): 8.6 km² became built-up, 9.8 km² changed in total.
The two images are from different seasons. Seasonal differences can look like change; pick the same month for a more reliable result.
Land cover on both dates
| 2016 | 2025 | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture increased | 1.8% | 2.8% | +1 |
| Natural vegetation decreased | 44.4% | 27.9% | -16.5 |
| Built-up increased | 52.1% | 67.8% | +15.7 |
| Water no notable change | 1.7% | 1.5% | -0.2 |
Largest transitions (confident cells)
- Natural vegetation → Built-up8.6 km²
- Natural vegetation → Agriculture0.4 km²
- Built-up → Agriculture0.4 km²
- Built-up → Natural vegetation0.4 km²
Limits
- Every value shown is a model estimate, not a measurement.
- Areas are not measurements but approximations counted from cells. The figures are always computed on 640 m cells; the scale only changes how the map is drawn.
- The model was trained on European images; results outside Europe are less reliable.
- Clouds, shadows and seasonal differences can show change that is not there.