Saturday, December 21, 2013

Mapping Global Urbanization


One of the biggest social changes around the world in the last two hundred years has been the continued shift in populations from rural areas to towns and cities. The global rise in urbanization is an ongoing process and is predicted to continue in the 21st Century.

The UNICEF Urban Population Map is a fascinating visualization of the rise of urbanization around the world since 1950. It also visualizes the continued predicted rise until 2050. Countries are represented on the graphic by circles, which are scaled in proportion to the size of the urban population. The color of the circles reflect the percentage of the population living in urban areas.

As you play the animation the circles grow and change in color as urban populations increase around the world over time and the color of the circles change as the percentages of countries' populations living in towns and cities grow.

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