Income inequality, as seen from space Last week, I wrote about how urban trees—or the lack thereof—can reveal income inequality. After writing that article, I was curious, could I actually see income inequality from space? It turned out to be easier than I expected. Below are satellite images from Google Earth that show two neighborhoods from a selection of cities around the world. In case it isn’t obvious, the first image is the less well-off neighborhood, the second the wealthier one. Rio de Janeiro Rocinha Zona Sul Oakland West Oakland Piedmont Houston Fourth Ward River Oaks Chicago Woodlawn Hyde Park Beijing Fengtai Chaoyang Boston metro area, Massachusetts Ball Square, Somerville West Cambridge Your examples Do you have other cities or neighborhoods in mind? Be sure to include the names of the cities and neighborhoods you’re highlighting and if you’d like me to mention your name. Your examples are now posted! Related posts: Urban trees reveal income inequality Income inequality in the Roman Empire Ghosts of geography
Not a Drop to Drink More Infographics on Good Millenium Development Goals More Infographics on Good If the world’s population lived like… Shortly after I started Per Square Mile, I produced an infographic that showed how big a city would have to be to house the world’s 7 billion people. There was a wrinkle, though—the city’s limits changed drastically depending on which real city it was modeled after. If we all lived like New Yorkers, for example, 7 billion people could fit into Texas. Here’s that infographic one more time, in case you haven’t seen it: What’s missing from it is the land that it takes to support such a city. It turns out that question is maddeningly difficult to answer. But what we can do is compare different countries and how many resources their people—and their lifestyles—use. Sources: Global Footprint Network. 2011. Wackernagel, M., Kitzes, J., Moran, D., Goldfinger, S. & Thomas, M. (2006). Related posts: If the world’s population lived in one city… 7 billion Spare or share?
The Origins of Electricity, Tesla vs. Edison More Infographics on Good Paying the Same Amount for Smaller Products More Infographics on Good Cartography: The true true size of Africa LAST month Kai Krause, a computer-graphics guru, caused a stir with a map entitled "The True Size of Africa", which showed the outlines of other countries crammed into the outline of the African continent. His aim was to make "a small contribution in the fight against rampant Immappancy"—in particular, the fact that most people do not realise how much the ubiquitous Mercator projection distorts the relative sizes of countries. A sphere cannot be represented on a flat plane without distortion, which means all map projections distort in one way or another. Some projections show areas accurately but distort distances or scales, for example; others preserve the shapes of countries but misrepresent their areas. Gerardus Mercator's projection, published in 1569, was immediately useful because it depicts a line of constant bearing as a straight line, which is handy for marine navigation.
Educating the Workforce of the Future More Infographics on Good What Congress Would Look Like If It Were Demographically Representative of America More Infographics on Good Vaccine-Preventable Outbreaks This interactive map visually plots global outbreaks of measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, rubella, and other diseases that are easily preventable by inexpensive and effective vaccines. Red triangles indicate attacks on vaccinators and healthcare workers, as well as announcements from both governments and non-state actors that have had an impact—either positive or negative—on the successful implementation of vaccination programs. The Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations has been tracking reports by news media, governments, and the global health community on these outbreaks since the fall of 2008. This project aims to promote awareness of a global health problem that is easily preventable, and examine the factors that threaten the success of eradicating preventable illnesses such as polio. Learn more about Global Health. On to the Vaccine-Preventable Outbreaks map
Pictogram graph Pictogram Graph Handling data --- Data --- Pictograms --- Graphs --- Mean, median, mode --- Sorting Fill in the graph title and a description per line. To enter data, click on the right place in the line, or click on + or -, or enter a value. Choose picture and colour: You can have different pictures or colours for different lines. How to use this webpage Farm animal pictogram © Jo Edkins 2007 - Return to Numbers index