Urban Area Map Showcase

[ChiSoxRox]

I bet the surprise is either Tokyo or New York...

[CyberEric]

Very cool to see the RR region in Germany, I had always wondered what it looked like from an urban aerial perspective.

Also BA in relation to Paris is pretty interesting too.

Thanks again!

[hudkina]

These maps really show that the so-called Rhein-Ruhr and Randstad areas aren't in the same category as cities like Paris or London, despite similar populations in similar areas. In fact, I think LUZs are the most comparable to a U.S. MSA. For example, districts are essentially the equivalent of a county. Cologne would basically consist of itself, plus the two districts on either side as well as Leverkusen. That's about 1.9 million people in an area of around 630 sq. mi. It seems small especially compared to American metros, but if you actually draw a boundary around the city it makes sense. Granted, the 5 million people in the main cluster is still a reasonably large metropolitan area, even if it isn't dominated by a single city. Cologne (1.9 million), Dusseldorf (1.6 million), and Bonn (~1 million) are still independent enough that saying they are part of a "metro" of over 10 million people in the same way Paris is a "metro" of over 12 million is a bit misguided.

[SlidellWx]

Keep up the great work!

[Miu]

Originally Posted by hudkina

These maps really show that the so-called Rhein-Ruhr and Randstad areas aren't in the same category as cities like Paris or London, despite similar populations in similar areas. In fact, I think LUZs are the most comparable to a U.S. MSA. For example, districts are essentially the equivalent of a county. Cologne would basically consist of itself, plus the two districts on either side as well as Leverkusen. That's about 1.9 million people in an area of around 630 sq. mi. It seems small especially compared to American metros, but if you actually draw a boundary around the city it makes sense.

LUZs are not at all comparable to U.S. MSAs. LUZs take into account commuting between outlying areas and the core city only. MSAs are based on commuter ties between outlying counties and central counties. The entire Cologne LUZ would be considered the central counties of a Cologne MSA, so the entire metro area would be significantly larger than that.

[hudkina]

But the point is that a Cologne MSA probably wouldn't include Dusseldorf to the north or Bonn to the south. In other words, a Cologne MSA would probably be very similar to the Cologne LUZ. And again, I understand that there are cities in the U.S. that have a larger area than the Cologne LUZ, but development patterns are very different between the U.S. and Europe. Cologne is a city similar in size to Portland, OR. The difference is that Portland is more spread out meaning it covers a much larger area. Despite the varying sizes both cities have about 2 million people.

[Spotila]

Originally Posted by Vaillant

that is wrong Montreal 2010 population is
City 1 692 082
Island 1 934 082
Metro 3,859,318

Ok, updated with 2010 figures

[Spotila]

Up next, two of the most densely population metropolitain areas on the planet. The fact these two metros fit so many people in such a small space is just incredible.

Brazzaville-Kinshasa, Rep. Congo-Dem. Rep. Congo
Brazzaville City Population: 1,500,000
Kinshasa City Population: 10,076,099
Brazzaville-Kinshasa Conurbation Population: 11,576,099

Note: There are areas around both cities that appear to be built up environment - they are in fact dense(ish) rural plots. The compactness of this metropolitain region is simply astounding, with areas holding up to 62,120 people per square km (Bumbu, for example).

Karachi, Pakistan
Metro Population: 13,460,000-18,000,000 (varying statistics)

[CyberEric]

That is AMAZING how small those two cities are, yet have so many people. It's really sort of unbelievable.
I am anxious to see Manila, I bet it's similar.

Thanks again!

[Spotila]

You can already see Manila, it is earlier in this thread

[ChiSoxRox]

Originally Posted by Spotila

Up next, two of the most densely population metropolitain areas on the planet. The fact these two metros fit so many people in such a small space is just incredible.

Brazzaville-Kinshasa, Rep. Congo-Dem. Rep. Congo
Brazzaville City Population: 1,500,000
Kinshasa City Population: 10,076,099
Brazzaville-Kinshasa Conurbation Population: 11,576,099

Note: There are areas around both cities that appear to be built up environment - they are in fact dense(ish) rural plots. The compactness of this metropolitain region is simply astounding, with areas holding up to 62,120 people per square km (Bumbu, for example).

Karachi, Pakistan
Metro Population: 13,460,000-18,000,000 (varying statistics)

Of course now I want to see these two (and Manila) with Atlanta plopped on top of them.

[BnaBreaker]

I'm pretty sure Buenos Aires, Manila, Karachi, Kinshasa, Auckland, Dublin, Madrid and Caracas put together could all fit inside Atlanta's footprint.

[Spotila]

Up next, a modern city on the Persian Gulf and a massive bi-national metro

Kuwait City, Kuwait
City Population: 151,060
Metro Population: 2,380,000


San Diego–Tijuana Bi-National Conurbation
San Diego City Population: 1,301,617
San Diego Metro Population: 3,095,313
Tijuana Metro Population: 1,784,034
San Diego–Tijuana Conurbation Population: 5,105,768

[SlidellWx]

Once again...great job with the latest maps. San Diego is more north-south oriented than I imagined. Mountains really constrain any eastern growth.

[ChiSoxRox]

That's also probably the clearest non-water border we've seen along Tijuana's north edge.

[Streamliner]

Wow good job on that San Diego/Tijuana map! You got all the nooks, crannies, valleys and canyons. Very impressive!

[Spotila]

Cheers guys
In the interim between more maps, here is a ..special edition of sorts.
Enjoy


edit: West Midlands should be around 2.6-2.7 million, not 2.2

[photoLith]

Man, thats disgusting how much room Atlanta takes up, while other cities with freakin 13
million take up 1/8th the amount of room.

[seaskyfan]

Wow. Pretty powerful graphic on Atlanta. Thanks for all the amazing maps!

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Man, thats disgusting how much room Atlanta takes up, while other cities with freakin 13
million take up 1/8th the amount of room.

Mind you, the density level of Karachi isn't a good thing either.