PUMA was developed as part of the larger Australian Aid-funded analytical activity that studies urban expansion in East Asia Pacific and allows the mapping of built-up land, urban expansion, and urban population change across the region between 2000 and 2010. As a pilot, more detailed mapping of land cover in five cities in the region (Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong in Vietnam; Surabaya in Indonesia; Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia; and Cebu in the Philippines) has been carried out, using satellite imagery.