Guess the City/Metro from Satellite Image

[Oliver25 59]

Identify City/Metro from Satellite Image

To play, observe the satellite image and try to guess the city by:

- Analyzing the shape and layout of the urban area
- Inferring the climate region from the earth's surface texture
- Spotting recognizable landmarks visible from above

The Rules:

1. - The first person to correctly identify the city gets to share the next Google Earth satellite image
2. - Make sure to remove all labels and layers, leaving only the satellite basemap
3. - The screen capture orientation must be set to North-up (i.e., the top of the image points towards the north)
4. - The scale of the image should be set to show the entire urban area, with a small portion of the surrounding rural or suburban area visible
5. - You can choose to skip your turn if you'd like
6. While it can be fun to challenge one another with more difficult guesses, I suggest limiting the game to metropolitan areas with populations greater than 100,000. This will help keep the game moving, make it more enjoyable for everyone, and avoid situations where progress is stalled by hard guesses for small cities in remote or lesser-known regions.

Here we go:

^ Original Pic Name: image.png

[C1tysc4pe 10]

I have thought of Baltimore at first glance, but it is Norfolk. It shows it is typically American.

[Oliver25 59]

You got it! Your turn C1tysc4pe

[C1tysc4pe 10]

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

Adelaide, South Australia.

[C1tysc4pe 10]

 Your turn

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

[Oliver25 59]

Xi'an, China?

At first sight, I thought 'Spokane, WA' ?  because the core of the metro area looks like an American grid, and the surrounding texture felt like a more arid valley surrounded by mountains like in Eastern WA.

BUT, the layout of the immediate suburbs, the color of the industrial area roofs, and the smaller agricultural divisions felt more like Asia. So, I went to the part of China where the earth texture was the closest to the one in the picture, found a big river leading to the Guanzhong Plain, until Xi'an. 

Never heard or looked that city up before; thanks for sharing

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

1 hour ago, Oliver25 said:

Xi'an, China?

At first sight, I thought 'Spokane, WA' ?  because the core of the metro area looks like an American grid, and the surrounding texture felt like a more arid valley surrounded by mountains like in Eastern WA.

Never heard or looked that city up before; thanks for sharing

It is indeed Xian.  Once capital of imperial China during several dynasties, it was the beginning of the Silk Road and is home to the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang and his terracotta soldier army.

Looks like youre up next.

[Oliver25 59]

Thanks, here it is:

[matias93 7,535]

Judging by the colours and orientation, that's in the Mediterranean, but I'm not sure where. I'll take a look, but to not spoil the game, I'll say that it is Marseille in France. Though, the orientation feels wrong, I remember that the coast there runs from northwest to southeast...

EDIT: It's not, but I won't say which one is the correct, next contestant please...

[Oliver25 59]

On 8/14/2024 at 7:39 PM, matias93 said:

Judging by the colours and orientation, that's in the Mediterranean, but I'm not sure where. I'll take a look, but to not spoil the game, I'll say that it is Marseille in France. Though, the orientation feels wrong, I remember that the coast there runs from northwest to southeast...

EDIT: It's not, but I won't say which one is the correct, next contestant please...

You're pretty close @matias93  I suggest you go ahead if you know and share the next image to guess

[matias93 7,535]

34 minutes ago, Oliver25 said:

You're pretty close @matias93  I suggest you go ahead if you know and share the next image to guess

Sure thing! I got it wrong by 124 kilometres, because it was Montpellier, not Marseille. Still on the Côte d'Azur, though.

* * *

Now the one to guess. It would be super easy if the rules of the game were just a bit different:

[Edvarz 1,984]

5 hours ago, matias93 said:

Sure thing! I got it wrong by 124 kilometres, because it was Montpellier, not Marseille. Still on the Côte d'Azur, though.

* * *

Now the one to guess. It would be super easy if the rules of the game were just a bit different:

Is it cheating if I looked at the cities that I thought could be the correct one on google maps to match it? I think I've found it but I'll just post my reasoning and the cities I discarded:

Here's how my thought process went: The city has a grid in what seems to be downtown so i don't think it's a european city, it also doesn't look american, too dense. The red roofs suggested Brazil to me, but it obviously isn't Rio or any coastal city; it's a city in the mountainous interior. It's not Manaos, since there's no Amazon river; nor is it Brasilia, since Niemeyer's layout is iconic and easily recognizable. It looks like a big city, so that left me with just Sao Paulo, Curitiba or Belo Horizonte.

[Oliver25 59]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:34 PM, Edvarz said:

Is it cheating if I looked at the cities that I thought could be the correct one on google maps to match it? I think I've found it but I'll just post my reasoning and the cities I discarded:

Here's how my thought process went: The city has a grid in what seems to be downtown so i don't think it's a european city, it also doesn't look american, too dense. The red roofs suggested Brazil to me, but it obviously isn't Rio or any coastal city; it's a city in the mountainous interior. It's not Manaos, since there's no Amazon river; nor is it Brasilia, since Niemeyer's layout is iconic and easily recognizable. It looks like a big city, so that left me with just Sao Paulo, Curitiba or Belo Horizonte.

Hi @Edvarz

It's not cheating at all; and it's actually the fun of the game, eye-scanning google earth until you find the matching urban area. Your reasoning is very good, and it seems like you're very close. One of your three guesses definitely looks like the correct answer  Feel free to post your final guess out of the three, and let's see if @matias93 agrees

[Edvarz 1,984]

1 hour ago, Oliver25 said:

Hi @Edvarz

It's not cheating at all; and it's actually the fun of the game, eye-scanning google earth until you find the matching urban area. Your reasoning is very good, and it seems like you're very close. One of your three guesses definitely looks like the correct answer  Feel free to post your final guess out of the three, and let's see if @matias93 agrees

Great! In that case it's Belo Horizonte, the airport and the lake next to it were the giveaway I think

[matias93 7,535]

22 hours ago, Edvarz said:

Great! In that case it's Belo Horizonte, the airport and the lake next to it were the giveaway I think

Correct! And if we enhance the previous image a bit...

We can see the characteristic layout of the city centre, with wide diagonal boulevards criss-crossing the square grid.

* * *

@Edvarz it's your turn to share a city to be guessed!

[Edvarz 1,984]

On 20/8/2024 at 5:21 PM, matias93 said:

We can see the characteristic layout of the city centre, with wide diagonal boulevards criss-crossing the square grid.

Love the way the right angles of the perfectly planned grid merge into the organic layout of the terrain!

I was originally going to post another city I found interesting but now just for fun I'll post this one with a similar grid pattern to see if folks find it

[Oliver25 59]

9 hours ago, Edvarz said:

Love the way the right angles of the perfectly planned grid merge into the organic layout of the terrain!

I was originally going to post another city I found interesting but now just for fun I'll post this one with a similar grid pattern to see if folks find it

Delicias, Mexico!

The clues were the Latin American grid design, but the pastel colors of the earth's surface suggested a drier climate, such as central Mexico. Then, I panned across that part of the country until I spotted that very distinctive downtown layout

[Edvarz 1,984]

2 hours ago, Oliver25 said:

Delicias, Mexico!

The clues were the Latin American grid design, but the pastel colors of the earth's surface suggested a drier climate, such as central Mexico. Then, I panned across that part of the country until I spotted that very distinctive downtown layout

That's right! it's not a super historic place, since it was founded in the 30's but I wonder if it's planners were inspired by either Belo Horizonte or a certain other city I was also considering for the post (maybe in another entry). I thought Delicias would be a bit more obscure to find (apparently not ).

This game is really fun for a city and geography nerd like me.

[Oliver25 59]

I'm glad you're enjoying it  That's one of my favorite games, too! I spend hours almost every day just browsing Google Earth for fun

Next guess:

[matias93 7,535]

Is that San Juan, Puerto Rico? If not, it looks a lot like it (I'm trying to guess on memory alone)

[Oliver25 59]

13 minutes ago, matias93 said:

Is that San Juan, Puerto Rico? If not, it looks a lot like it (I'm trying to guess on memory alone)

You got it! Your turn

[matias93 7,535]

Cool! Apparently the Spanish really liked narrow peninsulas, because they made cities around them in many places...

* * *

And now, for something completely different:

[Oliver25 59]

On 8/22/2024 at 3:19 PM, matias93 said:

Cool! Apparently the Spanish really liked narrow peninsulas, because they made cities around them in many places...

* * *

And now, for something completely different:

That was a tough one @matias93!  I'm ashamed how long it took me to figure it out: Pyongyang, North Korea. I was focusing only on the southern parts of Russia and ex USSR, and even some parts of western China, given the communist-like housing blocks.

[matias93 7,535]

Yeah, it was really hard, though maybe the many big stadia could serve as a hint.

Now is your turn!

[Oliver25 59]

Next guess:

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

2 hours ago, Oliver25 said:

Next guess:

 

Corpus Christi, Texas.

 

[Oliver25 59]

2 minutes ago, thecitiescenter said:

 

Corpus Christi, Texas.

 

You got it! Your turn @thecitiescenter

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

Where in the world is Carmen now?