Note that in the data section of the website you'll see both 'Population Density' and 'Population Count' but here I've used the population density data. It has so much beyond population data, so even if you don't want to map population patterns it's 100% worth checking out. - WorldPop really is an amazing project and in fact one of the best data resources currently in existence, in my opinion.Reduce the Offset (on the right) to remove the land So, what does it look like when we add it to Aerialod now? Well, see below for the new image.divide all values by 1,000), or do it in an image program, but here I am aiming at simplicity and a method that allows us to quickly arrive at a result that is both interesting and broadly representative of the spatial patterns of density on the ground. continuous, equal interval, quantile) or you could re-classify the raster using a scaling factor (e.g. there are loads of different ways you could do this step, including the use of different colour ramp modes (e.g. The idea with the approach outlined here is to give a good general overview of population distribution and density in a country. The vertical extrusion is not super-precise, and of course depends upon the method you use to create the rendered tif. Also, just remember that this approach is quite a simplified visualisation approach to displaying population density data. instead of Continuous you could try equal Interval or even Quantile). This sometimes happens in the highest density areas so it's worth looking closely at it and then if it does happen, re-scale the data in QGIS using a different kind of classification (e.g. Check:are all your highest population spikes the same height, meaning they look truncated or flat-topped? If so, this means you probably need to adjust the light-dark colour gradient again in QGIS before exporting it and loading it in QGIS.Some population data, preferably in raster format.I'm going to use the example of the United Kingdom as a single country, but the data source I use has data for all countries in the world, so you can pick whatever you like and replicate the method. What do we need to make a population density map like this of a single country? Well, it can be done in different ways, and you may have your own method, but the basic ingredients are outlined below. Singapore, KL, Medan, Ho Chi Minh City, etc
In the image below, for example, we can see a lot of what we might already know, but it's often in the comparisons within and between places that we learn new things and that's also part of the point here - it can give us a new perspective on the world. Perhaps the best answer I could give here is that's it's a combination of aesthetics, insight, and interest. But feel free to call them 3D maps - either way, this is an example of what they look like.īut why do this? Well, partly because it's an interesting and often informative way at looking at population and settlement patterns, but also partly because this particular method produces nice-looking graphics. I say 'render' rather than 'map' here because the images you'll generate are rendered by Aerialod, which is, technically, a 'path tracing renderer' rather than a piece of mapping software. The main tool I'll use ( Aerialod) is Windows-only at the moment, but it is amazing. This blog post explains how to make a 3D population density render for any country in the world, using open data and free software.