The mapping bug has bit me recently, as I continue to explore a variety of resources, including CartoDB, Mapbox, Leaflet, and now D3. While D3 is not a dedicated mapping platform like the others, it is perhaps the most flexible of all, due to the wealth of map projections provided by Mike Bostock, Jason Davies, and the rest of the D3 community. In addition, it provides nearly unlimited potential through the use of colors, labels, tooltips, and so on, all customizable using CSS.
My latest effort is a rather simple foray into a time-based map using population projections from the UN, found here. This map owes a debt of gratitude to a similar creation found on github from Rich Donohue. I was able to use his example as a starting point and then simply tweak a handful of settings, provide a different data source, and manipulate color schemes and the map projection. This is a basic choropleth map, where every country has a fill color based on the projected rate of population growth for every five-year period through 2100. I removed the data for the first half of each decade, as it didn’t add to the story. The result is a map that shows 10-year intervals for every country from 2020 through 2100.
Here’s a glimpse of the map, or click here to go to the full version:
This is a relatively simple example that barely scrapes the surface of what D3 can do, but it reinforces my love affair with open source tools and communities. More to come.
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