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This map depicts the population density of world cities in stunning detail

Density Immensity

This map depicts the population density of world cities in stunning detail

This map depicts the population density of world cities in stunning detail. Pictured here: The Northeast Corridor as a density bar map. (Courtesy Human Terrain)

Maps are cool, maps are fun, maps show us things in the world that we couldn’t otherwise see. Over at The Pudding, Matt Daniels has extruded block-by-block population data for some of the world’s major cities to give viewers fine-grain insight into population distribution across the core and metro areas. New York, with Manhattan at the center, resembles a geyser just before gravity intervenes, while nearby but less dense locales like Philadelphia, D.C., and Boston look like a teenager’s cheekbone in a Clearasil ad. (No shade towards the Northeast Corridor, I swear!)

Southeast Asia (Image via Human Terrain)
Indonesia by density (Courtesy Human Terrain)

Daniels copped the data from the Global Human Settlement Layer and processed it using Google Earth Engine. For areas like India and China where population counts are unreliable, the data appears a little noisy in map view. A detailed explanation of the data gathering and manipulation is available here.

Curious to see your city in bars? Head on over to Human Terrain.

h/t City Observatory


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