This is a fabulous map---but is the statement true?
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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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Seth Dixon's insight:
I present this map (hi-res) without any context to my students and ask the question: is this statement true? How can we ascertain the truthfulness of this claim? What fact would we need to gather? This exercise sharpens their critical thinking skills and harnesses the assorted bits of regional information that they already have, and helps them evaluate the statement. The answers to these questions can be found here.
Tags: density, social media, East Asia, South Asia. Delete the scoop?
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Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Seven million people living in 423 square miles (1,096 sq km).
Seth Dixon's insight:
These apartments are so small that they can only be photographed from the ceiling. Massive urbanization with limited space means that real estate is at a premium and many laborers will not be able to afford large living spaces. Hong Kong is an extreme example of this and it brings new meaning to the term "high-density housing." Tags: housing, urban, planning, density, urbanism, unit 7 cities. 
Kevin Cournoyer's comment,
May 1, 12:52 AM
Apartments that are so small, they can only be photographed from the ceiling. That’s pretty ridiculous. I think that most Americans, in fact, most Westerners, could not imagine such cramped and seemingly uncomfortable living conditions. As people who live in a Western culture, we value the idea of space because of the freedom it affords us and also just for basic safety reasons.
The fact that these apartments are in Hong Kong is, to me, very telling. It indicates a cultural difference between East and West. Asian cities tend to be very densely populated, and so anything that can be done to make more room for people is being done. This may have something to do with a lower standard of living in China that makes its people less picky about the environments in which they’re living because they are used to making do with what they have. 
Thomas D's comment,
May 2, 11:53 AM
This article of how people are living in Hong Kong is absolutely incredible. You can tell just by these pictures how densely populated Hong Kong is. These people have almost their entire home packed into a closet space. They eat and sleep in the same exact spot which is incredible to me. That these people’s entire lives are bunched into a closet space. When you hear that these people pay almost 30 percent more than the price of a person living in Manhattan pays is astounding. I couldn’t imagine living in such a small space like this, even from these pictures it’s hard to tell the actual square footage of the area but I’m confident in saying that my dorm room is probably bigger. It’s really hard to understand how much 7 million people living in Hong Kong really is until you see pictures like this.
Jess Pitrone's comment,
May 5, 5:34 PM
I’m getting claustrophobic just looking at these photographs. Surely, Hong Kong can’t be such an amazing city that people are willing to live like this just to be a part of it? New York City is mentioned in the article as having famously high rents, but not nearly as high as in Hong Kong. New York is also famous for tiny living spaces, but I’m sure none of them are as squished and compact as these. This seems to be almost inhumane, as people are slotted into these tiny apartments that resemble cages at a slaughter house. I think that the best way for Hong Kong to solve this problem is to build up and out, instead of dividing what they’ve already got. Like most cities in the world, when room becomes tight the buildings get higher and farther out of the city limits. Let’s look at New York again; the rents and the spaces in Manhattan became too pricey and too small, so people began to move out of the city limits to places like Brooklyn, and now Brooklyn is one of the hippest, most sought after areas in New York. I think that Hong Kong city planners need to take a step back and see what other people are doing so that they can rebuild and customize their city to make room for their bustling population.
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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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See the big picture of how suburban developments are changing the country's landscape, with aerial photos and ideas for the future
Seth Dixon's insight:
There are many types of housing development patterns throughout the world. This article provides a summary of approximately 20 different housing patterns common in the United States with a visual example demonstrate the impact on the urban footprint (Pictured above is an example of new urbanism in Boulder, CO). Each neighborhood has distinct cultural amenities and attracts particular socioeconomic market segments. Questions to Ponder: What housing patterns are you drawn to? How come? What are the advantages for the residents to live in that type of community? What are the impacts that the housing pattern has on the physical environment and the urban system? What systems are most profitable for developers? How does the layout of the neighborhood alter the sense of place?
Tags: housing, urban, planning, density, urbanism, unit 7 cities. 
Scarpaci Human Geography's curator insight,
January 30, 8:01 AM
Questions to Ponder: What housing patterns are you drawn to? How come? What are the advantages for the residents to live in that type of community? What are the impacts that the housing pattern has on the physical environment and the urban system? What systems are most profitable for developers? How does the layout of the neighborhood alter the sense of place? 
Courtney Holbert's curator insight,
February 3, 10:16 PM
Planned Developments and their effects on geography 
chris tobin's curator insight,
February 3, 10:25 PM
My favorite is the one with wide roads for your own airplane to get home. Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
This image is an excellent visualization to use when teaching about density, public transportation and urban planning. Questions to Ponder: How is this a persuasive image? Do you argee with the argument that the planning office is making? Are there something important factors that this image ignores? Tags: transportation, urban, planning, density, sustainability, unit 7 cities. 
plerudulier's curator insight,
January 15, 1:17 PM
If you define a "car" as "a separate enclosed vehicle for every passenger or party", then the geometric fact about all cars, self-driving or not, miniaturized or not, is that they take vastly more space per passenger than effective public transit. This will not be a problem in low-density suburbs, but cities, by definition, are places with relatively little space per person. Self-driving cars will certainly improve the efficiency with which cars use space, so they will shift the calculus somewhat. But the bottom line will still be that if you want two crash-safe metal walls between every two strangers going down the same street, you will need a lot more space than if those two people can sit next to each other on civilized public transit. You will also need vastly more metal and equipment, which means that the self-driving-car-replaces-transit fantasy involves massive industrial production with severe consequences for energy security and greenhouse-gas emissions. As for the idea that somehow these cars will replace buses but not rail, this may be true around the margins. 
Imran Ahmed Khan's comment,
January 17, 3:44 PM
Good picture! It defines the growth of the city that impact on urbanization rate, public health, socioeconomic environment. It also tell us that if we reduce vehicles on the road more space and clean environment may we get, that reduce motality and morbadity of several disease especially lung diseases.
Lauren Jacquez's curator insight,
April 8, 9:31 PM
What are the benefits for each? Drawbacks? You decide! Delete the scoop?
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There will soon be 7 billion people on the planet. Find out why you shouldn’t panic—at least, not yet. This whole year, National Geographic has been producing materials on the impacts of a growing global population (including this popular and powerful video). Now that the year has (almost) concluded, all of these resources are archived in here. These resources are designed to answers some of our Earth's most critical questions: Are there too many people on the planet? What influences women to have fewer children? How will we cope with our changing climate? Are we in 'the Age of Man?' Can we feed the 7 billion of us? Are cities the cure for our growing pains? What happens when our oceans become acidic? Is there enough for everyone? Tags: population, National Geographic, sustainability, density. Delete the scoop?
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The green dots on this map representing Starbucks locations which are obviously clustered in major metropolitan centers. Cross-referencing this Starbucks address location with population data, Davenport explains his mapping technique: "By counting the number of people who live within a given distance to each Starbucks, we can measure how well centered Frappuccinos are to the US citizenry. In other words: draw a 1-mile circle around every store, then add up the % of the population living within the circles. Repeat for 2, 3, 4....100 miles." The result of this data is a fabulous logrithmic S-curve which explains much about the American population distribution. Tags: statistics, density, consumption, mapping, visualization, urban. Delete the scoop?
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I found these cartograms from an article in the Telegraph and was immediately impressed. The cartograms originated here and use data from the Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project as to create the int...
This series of cartograms shows some imbalanced populations (such as the pictured Australia) by highlighting countries that have established forward capitals. Question to ponder: Do forward capitals change the demographic regions of a country significantly enough to justify moving the capital? Delete the scoop?
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A new study suggests vehicular travel affects children's ability to navigate their neighborhood and connect to their community.
We learn about the places around us by exploring. Literally our mental map is formed by making choices (in part through trial and error) and that process strengthens our spatial perception of the neighborhood. Research is showing that kids with a 'windshield perspective' from being driven everywhere are not able to draw as accurate maps as children for who walk and bike their neighborhood. The built environment and the transportation infrastructure in place play a role in developing spatial thinking skills for young minds.
This is a compelling article with some important implications. What are the ramifications for geographers? City planners? Educators? Families moving to a new neighborhood? Delete the scoop?
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Jakarta's traffic is legendary and locals have now become experts at finding ways to get around the jams, with some even making money out of them.
The population of Indonesia is heavily concentrated on the island of Java, and the capital city of Jakarta faces a tremendous strain on it's transportation network. This video show that resourceful people will find inventive ways to make an unworkable situation manageable. 
Matt Mallinson's comment,
November 28, 2012 10:42 AM
It's crazy how close they drive their motorcycles to the oncoming cars. I'd be afraid to crash a motorcycle on an open road, a traffic jam every day would be scary to drive through.
Elizabeth Allen's comment,
December 7, 2012 1:09 PM
Traffic. Just waiting for your turn to move a few feet. I can only imagine the frustration of commuters in Jakarta. The governemnt needs to make improvements, quikly. If they provided more public transport and better infrastrucure, traffic conditions would greatly improve.
Michelle Carvajal's curator insight,
December 11, 2012 8:59 PM
"This other video of the poeple in Jakarta shows us how people have to in a sense ignore all laws that could indeed get them in much trouble. Traffic jams are annoying as it is for us when the we're stuck for more than fifteen minutes. Living in Jakarta, being stuck in traffic for an hour is a normal thing on a daily. We see that there are strict regulations for people to have a certain amount of individuals in a car in order to enter the rush hour. It has forced many who are uneomployed to be the extra people in a car but for a price. No matter what you may think, the price is very low. Others have purchased bikes and use them as taxis to maneuver people through the traffic. This is also illegal. What will happen as the increase in population goes up in this city? Very interesting." - M. Carvajal 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 map answers a few simple questions: How far away is the nearest McDonald's? Where is the concentration of McDonald's highest or lowest? While population density is the immediate pattern that we identify, what else can this map show us? 
Kalin B.'s comment,
November 5, 2012 11:27 AM
Diffusion and globalization are truly forces to be reckoned with.
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Visualisation of the density and function of the built-environment in Greater London 2010. Shows the dominance of the intensifying city-centre, corridors of commercial development and the smaller scale centres in Outer London.
This is a fantastic way to visually comprehend the spatial urban patterns and densities of a world city like London. Delete the scoop?
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What if you put all 7 billion humans into one city, a city as dense as New York, with its towers and skyscrapers? How big would that 7 billion-sized city be? As big as New Jersey? Texas? Bigger? Are cities protecting wild spaces on the planet?
Seth Dixon's insight:
This NPR article pulls together some great images of dense urban housing as well is some stellar infographics to show the importance of cities to a growing global population. Tags: density, sustainability, housing, urban, planning, unit 7 cities. 
John Peterson's comment,
April 30, 10:36 AM
This article brings up very interesting point on the benefits of densely populated cities. While these cities can be very far from ideal living circumstances, they provide numerous opportunities and benefits to their populous. Because of the introduction of cities in our society, we have been able to reach the enormously high population numbers that we see today. Without these crammed together spaces, the world would not be able to sustain such large numbers. This can also be seen as detrimental to our society because with the increased strain on the surrounding areas to support these cities, we are harming the earth and the resources these cities so desperately need. Although the article points out that we could use some densely populated cities as models to condense earth’s population, it does also state how this would still not be fully beneficial to the planet. This is because although only a small area will be directly populated; there will still be large strains on the surrounding environments for resources. This argument shows how it is not a matter of condensing the population in order to save the earth, but to rather change our living habits, and maybe having fewer children as well.
Kevin Cournoyer's comment,
May 1, 12:50 AM
Overcrowding and overpopulation have become of increasingly greater concern over the last decade or two. We as human beings want more things and more space, but there is only so much space in the world in which we live. Cities have proved a viable, if still malignant solution because they allow for people to live in close quarters and still carry on normal, productive lives.
Some cities are more densely populated than others, and this leads to the issue of how much space they take up. This article was interesting because it showed how much room the world’s population would take up if they lived as densely populated as people in six different cities do. In terms of physical space, there were of course large differences between the six. Maybe more interesting was the infographic that showed how much of the earth the world’s population would need to live like the people of nine different countries. Here we can see the correlation between economic prosperity, standards of living and geographic impact. Those with less money and a resulting lower standard of living have adjusted to live with less and therefore physically take up less room than those in more developed countries. If everyone lived like those in more developed countries, we would literally need several more earths for everyone to live within their means constantly. 
Magnus Gustafsson's comment,
May 2, 2:59 AM
Yes. Keviin. I think the infograph about developed countries are most interesting and useful for my students.
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Two Yale architects pose the question in an ambitious research project. "Hsiang and Mendis have increasingly come to believe that the only way to study and plan for our urban planet is to conceptualize its entire population in one seamless landscape – to picture 7 billion of us as if we all lived in a single, massive city." Delete the scoop?
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A new study finds that urban minds don't pay as much attention to their surroundings unless they're highly engaging.
Seth Dixon's insight:
It's often noted that people from smaller towns prefer a slower pace of life and people from large cities enjoy the hustle and bustle more. So does the urban environment change how we handle the vast quantity of information in major metropolitan areas? This article points to data that says it does. Tags: rural, housing, urban, planning, density, urbanism, unit 7 cities. Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
The highway system (and the widespread usage of air conditioning) in the later half of the 20th century dramatically changed the population settlement patterns of the United States and reshaping our cities.
Tags: transportation, urban, planning, density, unit 7 cities.
Lauren Jacquez's curator insight,
April 8, 9:30 PM
Very Interesting HUGGERS...we didn't always have highways to cruise on! Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
This interactive dot distribution map of the United States 2010 census data has many great applications. The conversation can focus on the symbology of the map (for example, this could lead to a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of dot distribution maps) or notice how certain physical landforms are visible for either their high or low population density. One of the advantages of this map is that it uses census data at the block level. This means that the user can visualize distinct scale-dependent patterns. Sharp divisions (e.g.-urban vs. rural) might have less of a distinct edge as you zoom in. UPDATE: This map now includes Canadian census data as well as the United States. Tags: cartography, technology, mapping, visualization, population, density. 
Sam Capron's curator insight,
February 6, 10:22 PM
It is interesting in this map that you can see the growing megalopolis on the eastern coast, as well as the blending of rural and urban locations. 
Charlie Koppelson's curator insight,
February 7, 2:40 PM
This map is very useful in examining the distribution of people and geography in North America. It's easy to see that our once rural based country is completely dominated by cities, most of which are near the coast. It's fun to play around with as you can see where mountain ranges are as well as other topographic changes just by the concentrations of people, or lack there of. Delete the scoop?
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TED Talks How can we fit more people into cities without overcrowding? Kent Larson shows off folding cars, quick-change apartments and other innovations that could make the city of the future work a lot like a small village of the past. This talk is relevant not just because it focuses on many urban issues; it also is a fantastic demonstration of how to use spatial thinking to solve problems.
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After making an infographic depicting how much space would be needed to house the entire world’s population based on the densities of various global cities, Tim De Chant of Per Square Mile got to thinking about the land resources it takes to support those same cities. Tags: consumption, development, resources, energy, density, sustainability.
Michelle Carvajal's comment,
September 18, 2012 6:23 PM
Its very interesting that the United Arab Emirates would need more land mass than lets say China and the US. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the common misconception of people is that China has the greatest population. I definetely will rescoop this because people could actually see how hard it must be to house people who in essence would need all this land mass to live comfortably.
Thomas D's comment,
April 22, 4:13 PM
I thought that this was a very interesting graph and article to read. It shows that if the rest of the world lived like us Americans we would need four times the world’s surface, which is pretty substantial to think about. Although the United Arab Emirates is the leading this graph it’s hard to believe that America is in second. This goes to show that our way of living is out of hand, that the only reason we haven’t consumed everything is because the rest of the world is living of more reasonable amounts of resources or no resources at all. That we need to be as a country more conservative of our resources before we have to rely even more heavily than we already do on other countries. I was surprised to see that India has such a small percentage of resource consummation considering it is such a highly populated country.
Brianna Simao's comment,
April 30, 10:23 PM
Countries with a more advanced and urbanized way of life clearly would need more space to survive but if everyone lived like these more developed countries then natural selection dies and survival of the fittest takes over. Eventually all the natural resources would be used up. If they all continued to use the same amount and reproduce then the fertility rate would rapidly increase making the area overpopulated and the quality of life decreased. It is a good thing the entire world lives differently and has a diverse ecological footprint because it creates a balance in the world. As one country’s consumption is out of control another is holding down the fort because they lice more reasonably. It is interesting to see that even though China and India have the largest populations they don’t consume as many resources as the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
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A map that has been making the rounds on the internet demonstrates how you can fit 7 major U.S. cities plus New York's most famous borough within Los Angeles city limits.
So Los Angeles is big, but, LA's spatial extent is in part due to it's history with transportation (ripped out the streetcars to let the automobile and freeway take over). How do density and transportation affect cities? Delete the scoop?
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In this feature length film Gary Burns, Canada's king of surreal comedy, joins journalist Jim Brown on an outing to the suburbs.
This 2006 documentary is a critical look at suburbia that has comments from suburbanites interspersed with planners, real estate agents, experts and urban academics. 
Chris St. Clair's comment,
April 27, 2012 2:03 PM
I've showed this movie once in a while during the Urban unit and the kids enjoy it. "Edutainment"
Seth Dixon's comment,
April 27, 2012 7:09 PM
It seems a mixture of vignettes, with some academic founding mixed in. Warning: There was one F-bomb in the movie.
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In The Wall Street Journal, Wendell Cox writes that government planners intend to herd millions of new state residents into densely packed urban corridors. It won't save the planet but will make traffic even worse.
This is a article/video against many of the regulations that embody the 'Smart Growth' movement that would serve as a good ideological counterweight to many of the other sources that are available. Would more dense neighborhoods create transit problems? Delete the scoop?
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In a crowded place like Manhattan, it’s only rational to wonder: Just how many people can this city handle?
After spending time last week in Manhattan for the AAG annual meeting, the idea of density in the city and especially historical densities and how transportations systems, technologies available and standards of living all impact population density. Please explore the graphic "Manhattan's population Density, Past and Present" in the article or here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/01/realestate/manhattans-population-density-past-and-present.html 
Kyle M. Norton's comment,
March 7, 2012 11:52 AM
I agree there needs to be ways to make the city more efficient the status quo can not maintain this structure forever.
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"If you think American cities are sprawling now, just wait until 2025. In that time, the U.S. population will grow by 18 percent but the amount of developed land will increase 57 percent. Up to 9.2 percent of the lower 48 could be urbanized by then. And while that number includes cities and the infrastructure to support them—roads, rail, power lines, and so on—that number does not include land impacted by farming, logging, mining, or mineral extraction." 
's comment, February 19, 2012 5:16 PM
The US has already fallen behind most other first world nations in public transportation. The reliance on the automobile, which enabled the growth of our suburbs, needs to be slowly phased out, and major rail lines need to be laid to serve as the backbone for our future urban/suburban transportation network. Rail is FAR cheaper than cars. Cars, in a sensible future, will be thought of as transport for short trips. Hopefully we will be mainly electric with those 50 years from now as well. It is good for the environment and good for our pocketbook. Classic win/win.
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wow....lovely map.........
It's quite amazing!