I am continually amazed by the many and varied ways humans can find to map their environments. Slate.com has a good series of articles that illustrate this point perfectly.
Today they featured a map produced by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University at Virginia. Amazingly, they have identified the place of residence for each resident of the United States as recorded in the national census data. Each resident is represented by a colored pixel with the color corresponding to the individual's race or ethnicity.
I am not going to attempt to drawn any conclusions about this from a social policy perspective. But I do think it is important to point out the importance such mapping can have in developing policy. I for one find it wholly fascinating to see our perceptions and understanding of racial integration change as you drill into the local or neighborhood level. One policy initiative likely to be scrutinized on the basis of this map is the gerrymandering of congressional voting districts.
This map is also a great demonstration of the spatial inferences of policy making and human activity across a broad range of scales. If knowledge is power, then this map is lightning in a bottle for the person that wants to leverage its data to our benefit or detriment.
On another level it makes for an awesome piece of artwork.
Slate Map of the Week
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