While city lights at night serve as a good proxy for population density, North Korea provides a dark exception.
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Global news with a spatial perspective: Interesting, current supplemental materials for geography students and teachers. http://geographyeducation.org
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Seth Dixon
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Scooped by Seth Dixon onto Geography Education |
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Seth Dixon's insight:
This image is appears to be a regional inset of the classic Earth at Night composite image however this nighttime remote sensing image was taken from Sept. 2012. The Earth at Night image is typically used in classrooms to discuss what this actually means for human geography (Population density? Development? Consumption? Where? How come?). However, this particular portion of the global image focused on the Korean Peninsula highlights two other specific issues:
- the impact of a totalitarian state can actually be seen from space as South Korea has a per captia income level 17 times higher than that of North Korea.
- the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) can be seen in the Yellow Sea as fishing vessels form a line approximately 200 nautical miles off the coast of South Korea.
Tags: economic, political, resources, water, sovereignty, coastal, territoriality, states, unit 4 political, remote sensing.
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Read the Transcript: http://to.pbs.org/b6sR86 The capital of the South Asian country Bangladesh, Dhaka, has a population that is booming. However, it stands ...
Seth Dixon's insight:
This is a great introduction to the demographic explosion of the slums within megacities. This is applicable to many themes within geography. Tags: Bangladesh, water, pollution, poverty, squatter, planning, density, South Asia, development, economic, megacities. 
Lauren Jacquez's curator insight,
April 8, 9:00 PM
Another look at a growing megacity and its shantytowns. 
Chris Magee's comment,
April 28, 3:40 PM
As Tony Hall says, this is a very sobering and educating video. This shows how much a population boom and high birth rate can create problems for a developing country. With all of the people there it is hard for enough jobs to be available and most are forced to work for pennies. The migration to Dhaka, about 4000 people a year, can create a huge issue for the city in the future as we have seen how extremely dense populations can effect a city.
These changes will shape the country for many years to come. The political geography will have to adapt to the booming population. How will new policies be put into effect to handle this growing population? The population will become more diverse and less unified as it is taking in new people from many neighboring cities. 
Peter Siner's comment,
April 30, 5:37 PM
A city that is home to 15 million people… this is a scary thought especially since the idea of massively overpopulated cities is a new trend around the globe. The megacities help house those who cannot live in the rural areas surrounding them. It also shows how growing populations can have quite negative effects. While the city is growing quickly there is also widespread poverty and the city is riddled with slums. High poverty rate generally converts to high crime rate. The impacts of overpopulation have lasting effects on not only the land use but also consumption rates. The example we are given is a small family in which their income was based off of a farm that was washed away, now they are forced to move to Dhaka.
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Elizabeth Allen's curator insight,
December 11, 2012 7:18 PM
This reminds me of the power issues in the Phillipines. The use of soda bottles and water provide light for many villages in the Phillipines.... Here in Bangladesh they rely on green power- solar power. I am sure now that children can study better at night (because they have light) they have better progess at school. Pehaps people in Bangladesh without solar power should adopt the soda bottle technique from the Phillipines. Elizabeth Allen 
Mr. Rodrigues's curator insight,
December 12, 2012 12:53 PM
Green power has a far wider impact than just "promoting" the preservation of the planet - due to the fact that many, if not all, of the methods of green power generation and delivery leverage locally sourced power channels.
This is truly democratizing who "can have" power, and the impact it will have on them. In the past, generators used dirty sources of power such as fossil fuels, which not only cost money, but would ruin already impoverished areas with unchecked pollution.
By harnessing what they have access to, the Bangladeshi people are gaining the benefits of the power (longer hours of useable time) but also not damaging the one resource they did have: the Earth. 
Sam Capron's curator insight,
April 10, 9:58 PM
Here in the United States, and in other modern parts of the world, the time that we are awake has been lengthened considerably due to electricity. Gone are the days where modern humans sleep when it is dark out and work when it is light. We can now work when we want, and sleep when we feel like it. Because of this the average American now gets less sleep than 100 years ago, but we are more advanced and more productive each day. It appears as though light is one of the first steps in cultural, technological, and industrial development. Delete the scoop?
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A five-part, multimedia series on the coming dystopia that is urbanization.
This is a great introduction to the explosion of the slums within megacities. This video as a part of the article is especially useful. Click on the title to read the accompanying article. 
Kyle Toner's comment,
November 13, 2012 12:46 PM
Dhaka's population is exploding, leaving many people living in the slums with very little resources or ways to make money for food. With the population growing, and natural disasters like flooding many people are in trouble.
Crissy Borton's curator insight,
December 11, 2012 10:51 PM
People are leaving the rural areas to move to Dhaka in hopes of a better life. However the slums they move to do not have running water or electricity. It looks as though they are living in garbage dumb. It is sad that this is better for them. It is also surprising that the mayor has no control over the city that the national government is in charge. 
Brian Nicoll's curator insight,
December 12, 2012 1:26 AM
A few things really stood out to me in this video. First off, the idea that people are moving into Dhaka for a better life, when in reality they are moving into slum life with no electricity or running water is very alarming. It begs the question of whether or not moving to this megacity is really worth it. The second thing that I was a bit surprised by was the fact that the mayor has pretty much no control over the city. The city is overseen by the national government. To think that urbanization has gained so much ground and continues to gain more ground is astounding. Delete the scoop?
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This cliché image of "North Korea in the dark" reinforces preconceived ideas about the "totalitarian" state and how terrible life must be without electricity. Well, one aspect of this political geography is the effect of US-backed sanctions against North Korea and the severe ecological and energy crisis under which it has struggled for the last two decades. Just as electricity is not simply a "natural" resource, neither is energe consumption nor shortage.
This image is appears to be a regional inset of the classic Earth at Night composite image however this nighttime remote sensing image was taken from Sept. 2012. The Earth at Night image is typically used in classrooms to discuss what this actually means for human geography (Population density? Development? Consumption? Where? How come?). However, this particular portion of the global image focused on the Korean Peninsula highlights two other specific issues:
the impact of a totalitarian state can actually be seen from space as South Korea has a per captia income level 17 times higher than that of North Korea. the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) can be seen in the Yellow Sea as fishing vessels form a line approximately 200 nautical miles off the coast of South Korea.Tags: economic, political, resources, water, sovereignty, coastal, territoriality, states, unit 4 political, remote sensing.