Issue 82: Inequality
June 29, 2023
In this week’s issue:
- Collaboration issue with Overview to explore inequality indicators viewed from space
- Visual needles in metaphorical haystacks
- China’s take on Paris
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Feature Story: Inequality
On aggregate, life is improving by many metrics: people are healthier and living longer, they’re more literate and educated, and economic development is on the rise. In these respects, industrialization has served as a beacon of light in the dark. But its shadows of environmental degradation and inequality have trailed close behind, running rampant and ensuring that only a select few may reap the full rewards of modernity. And as its light grows stronger in the 21st century, its shadows lengthen.
The world’s 26 richest billionaires own as much as the poorest 3.8 billion people (50%) combined. This startling fact is just one indication of the growing class divisions. Inequality is a broad, complex term; there are as many ways to define it as there are to measure it. Yet behind its terminology and data are detrimental consequences that undermine progress. Inequality is so pervasive that it has infiltrated time (generational wealth), institutional systems (laws that bar equal opportunity), and even physical space itself — our focus for this week’s issue.
Inequality is often visualized through graphs and charts. But its effects are so potent that, in many cases, they are imprinted into Earth’s landscapes. And satellite images can be used to reveal the patterns of disparity within our social world. So this week, we teamed up with Overview to look at some areas around the globe where inequality can be read like lines on a page.
Population density may be the most direct, visual example of income inequality there is. Within a single frame, satellites can capture divisions between one affluent neighborhood and the next. In the example above, the very wealthy town of Atherton, California (on the right with an average home price nearing $8 million) is seen next to the still-wealthy-but-not-as-affluent Redwood City (average close to $2 million). For other areas the division is even starker: in Caracas, Venezuela, densely packed barrios cover the hillside across from apartment buildings and tree-lined streets in the Palo Verde neighborhood.
Study after study confirms that access to green spaces is good for physical and mental health. These benefits may be why so many wealthy communities practically drown themselves in vegetation. Compare the greenery and space of Medina, Washington (right, population under 3,000) to the similarly-sized neighborhood of Imbaba, Egypt (left, pop. nearly 700,000).
Real estate professionals know it’s all about location. Which is why less expensive real estate is often placed on the front lines of the ever-increasing barrage of environmental impacts. Nations like Kiribati face an existential threat as sea levels rise. And industrial-hub cities like Lahore, Pakistan and Delhi, India regularly top air pollution charts. Some neighborhoods, like Deer Park in Texas, USA (seen below) are nestled between chemical plants, where dangerous toxins frequently penetrate residences.
Sometimes it’s easier to see more clearly in the dark. At night, electricity traces human networks on Earth’s surface. Pairing nighttime lights with population maps, however, can illuminate disparities in economic development. Take the Dominican Republic, which has a similar population to its neighbor, Haiti, but has 5 times higher GDP per capita.
Or Saudi Arabia and Yemen, where the distribution of population to power is particularly striking. Maps like these help shine a light on differences in economic growth, resource inequality, and environmental/political setbacks.
The fences, walls, and borders we construct also heighten inequality by restricting (or preventing) access to land, resources, or opportunity. From outer space they represent perhaps the most stark delineation of out and in, haves and have-nots. Political borders are abstract lines on a page. But when we erect walls and enact policy, the divisions become clear.
Elevation has long been a status symbol: gods above or rulers on their throne. But in the already-high-elevation city of La Paz, Bolivia, the lower the better. High-rises and gated suburbs collect in the low-elevation parts of the city, while poorer neighborhoods cling to the hills above.
Curbing the ills of inequality is one of the 21st century’s major challenges. It won’t be easy, and untangling its nefarious threads will require incredible effort. If anything, satellite images like these help show that dismantling these unequal systems go beyond laws and rhetoric. If inequality is already embedded in our environment, we’ll have to do some literal uprooting as well.
Remote Sensations: Accidental Sights
While scouring metaphorical haystacks for stories, our editor often comes across an occasional errant needle. These are sights that perhaps serve nothing else besides some visual eye candy. In other words, these needles are used less for weaving narrative threads than providing a sharp prick of intrigue. So here’s a few we’ve collected during research from the past few issues.
Our editor has more of these scenes than cool rocks he finds on walks (and he has a lot of rocks). So if you like random intriguing snaps like these, let us know and we’ll keep sharing them.
What in the World: Tianducheng
It can be difficult to travel to Paris, so China took a page from Las Vegas’s playbook and decided to simply construct a replica city at home. Tianducheng, aka the Paris of the East, comes complete with an Eiffel Tower (pictured center), Arc de Triomphe, and French-styled buildings. Las Vegas’s Eiffel Tower, however, is 187 feet (57 meters) taller than Tianducheng’s, which is no surprise really as Vegas is notorious for winning at numbers.
All imagery Ⓒ 2023 Planet Labs PBC
Editor: Ryder Kimball | Images: Overview, Ryder Kimball, Maarten Lambrechts
