Maps of the Week

This week Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger created an interesting mapped data visualization exploring the demographics of Zurich neighborhoods. The visualization centers around the magically transformation of bus route lines into interactive line graphs, in order to highlight the demographic differences between the different neighborhoods.

The interactive map in Zürichs Gegensätze presents two bus routes in the Swiss city of Zurich. As you scroll through the visualization the bus lines transform into interactive line graphs showing the demographic differences around each bus-stop, such as average incomes, average age, the immigrant population, birth & death rates, male & female ratios and marriage & divorce rates.

If you click on the 'schematisch' and 'geografisch' links at the top of the page you can switch between the graph and map view. When you switch between the two views the route polylines magically animate between a route line on the map and a demographic line graph.


This week the Center for America Progress also released an impressive mapped visualization. The Disappearing West interactive map allows you to explore the huge amount of natural land which is being lost to development in the Western United States.

Every 150 seconds a football field's worth of natural open land is lost to development in the Western United States. Scientists from the Conservation Science Partners have analysed satellite imagery and public data to determine how much land in the West is being developed, at what rate and why this is happening.

The map presents a choropleth view of the Western United States showing how much land has been lost to development in every county between 2001 and 2011. If you press the 'Local' button you can view a heat-map of the same data, providing a more localized view. Press the 'State' button and you can view a choropleth layer showing the amount of land lost in each state. The map also includes a timeline which allows you to select a different year to see how much land was lost from 2001 until your chosen year.


Jewish Warsaw is a fascinating account of the long history of the Jewish community in the Polish capital. It examines the city through the eyes of some of Warsaw's most influential Jewish citizens and examines some of the important, often turbulent, historical events that have effected Jewish citizens in Warsaw.

The Janusz Korczak section of Jewish Warsaw presents two interactive mapped journeys exploring the life of the famous Jewish educator and children's author. One of the maps takes you on a journey through Korczak's life in pre-war Warsaw. The other map recounts Korczak's bravery in World War II and his deportation and death at Treblinka extermination camp

In the Past and Present section you can lean more about the history of the Jewish community in Warsaw through a series of interactive vintage maps of the city. This section includes an account of the long history of Jews in Warsaw, a mapped account of the Jewish ghetto and the Holocaust in World War II and a number of walking tours through the Warsaw of today.