Sustainable development of World Cultural Heritage sites in China estimated from optical and SAR remotely sensed data

To address the gap of insufficient and incompatible census data on total per capita expenditure, the percentile score model is proposed as an alternative methodological approach to access the progress toward sustainability of cultural World Heritage List (WHL) properties in China by satellite images. We propose two complementary disturbance indicators: The land cover change ratio (LCR) that is visually detected using high-resolution optical images, and the surface deformation estimated using interferometric radar data. The nexus between Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1 (SDGSAT-1) glimmer data (a proxy for socioeconomic development) and LCR measurements are highly correlated (R2 ≈ 0.8). This pattern does not hold, however, for the deformation indicator considering the complexity of relevant driving forces. First-hand scientific percentile scores reveal that 12/30 WHL properties are in good condition with a percentile score > 90, 16/30 properties are in qualified condition, and the remaining two are in disqualified condition; this could be attributable to limitations of the methodological approach in terms of overestimation or underestimation. The methodology may be improved by testing its performance on the achievement assessment of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11.4.