Thursday, August 05, 2021

The Morphocode Explorer

The Morphocode Explorer is a useful interactive mapping tool for visualizing spatial and demographic data in New York. The tool allows you to drag a pedshed circle (a circle with a walking distance as the radius) around a map of New York City to explore multiple different data sets at the same time.Using the tool you can explore different social and spatial aspects of New York neighborhoods, such as land use, development intensity, transit links, demographics, and the urban morphology.

One of the data options available in the Morphocode Explorer is the 'Figure Foreground'. This option (which you can see in the animated screenshot above) allows you to view all the buildings outlines within your pedshed circle.The map sidebar also provides a data overview, reporting on the total number of buildings in your pedshed, and the ratio between building footprints and open space in the pedshed.

Other options in the Morphocode Explorer allow you to visualize a breakdown of land-use within your pedshed circle. This includes a breakdown of the residential and commercial mix, the amount of open spaces, and the number of industrial and manufacturing units.You can also use Morphocode Explorer to view the number of public transit stops, lines and routes within your pedestrian shed. The Demographics option allows you to view a colored dot map showing the population density in your pedshed area and the racial breakdown. You can also view data on the age breakdown of the local population and the percentage of males and females.

Using all the different data options in Morphocode Explorer it is possible to explore the different built environments and demographics in each New York borough. Currently the map only works in New York City but there are plans to make Morphocode Explorer tools for other cities across North America, Europe, and Australia.

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