Fig. 1: Divergent urban development patterns and the associated anomalies in spatial rainfall patterns.

a Spatial distribution of cities with three different development patterns; (b–d) composite mean change ratios in extreme rainfall frequencies (i.e., exceeding the 99th percentile daily rainfall of rainy days, represented by the shade) for different city groups with diverse development patterns between the period 2000–2005 and 2016–2020. b Group I (include cities with low urban coverage), low increases in urban area and slight increase in landscape shape index, i.e., “Low-Low-Disperse” cluster, (c) Group II (include cities with high urban coverage), low increases in urban area and slight decreases in landscape shape index, i.e., “High-Low-Compact” cluster, (d) Group III (include cities with low urban coverage, high increases in urban area and notable increases in landscape shape index, i.e., “Low-High-Disperse” cluster). The contour shows the normalized number of urban pixels (i.e., by diving the maxima within the ___domain, in percentage), providing an approximation of the city boundary.