Tomasz Stepinski used to be focused on Mars, mapping its craters algorithmically. Now the astrophysicist and mathematician is into his home planet, Earth. His latest project is an incredibly detailed map of the US that shows shifting racial diversity down to the neighborhood.
The free map tracks racial diversity spatio-temporally by laying census data from 1990 to 2010 over detailed grids from NASA satellite maps. The method was recently publicized in the journal Plos One, and on April 27, Stepinski will present his work at the annual Population Association of America conference in Chicago. [...]
The map—which allows users to zoom in and check out their neighborhoods—provides a previously unseen view of how the racial composition of neighborhoods is changing in the US. “People don’t realize that the United States is a diverse country but at the same time is still very segregated,” Stepinski says. [...]
Stepinski acknowledges that while the free flow of information is ideal, his map could also be used for less educational purposes. Arguably, it could enable racism, for example, by helping potential property owners seek demographic information that real estate agents are not legally allowed to provide.
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