Mapping urban growth using Soil and Vegetation Index and Landsat data: The Milan (Italy) city area case study

► We present a urban area change mapping approach from satellite. ► We used the SVI index for urban mapping using Landsat remote sensing data. ► We set up a framework for urban change detection based on SVI index ratio. ► We deliver urban growth results following a multi-temporal and multi-scale way. ► Accuracy and flexibility of the method enforce the value of the approach.