Friday, October 01, 2021

The Building Height Map of Spain

Spanish newspaper El Diario has published an interactive map which shows the height of all 12 million buildings in Spain. On this map all buildings in Spain are colored to show how many stories they have. The map can also be viewed in 3D, which means that you can actually see the height of all buildings in comparison with each other. 

The No. de Plantas Sobre Rasante map allows you to explore the differences in building heights that can be found in different Spanish cities. The El Diario article introducing the map, The map of the heights of all the buildings in Spain, includes a fascinating analysis of the urban landscapes found in ten Spanish cities. For example the map of Toledo reveals that the medieval center of the city is dominated by historical buildings and all modern buildings have also been restricted in height. 


Building heights in Toledo

In contrast the high population density of Barcelona is supported by blocks and blocks of tall apartment buildings. The result is that the center of Barcelona has one of the highest population densities in Europe. 



Mapping the height of every building in Spain is a fantastic achievement but it isn't the first time that the height of every building in a country has been mapped. That honor goes to The Tallest Buildings in the Netherlands, an interactive map which allows you to explore the building heights of every building in the Netherlands - all in 3D.

Every Dutch building on this map has been modeled in 3D using the height data of buildings from the Dutch Land Registry. All the buildings on the map have also been color-coded by height. You can even click on any of the buildings, anywhere in the whole country, to view the building's height in meters.

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