Map of the Happy Planet

A weblog for members of the Canadian Cartographic Association and other individuals interested in all things cartographic

Map of the Happy Planet

Published Friday, July 28, 2006 by CCAer | E-mail this post

A coouple of days ago I posted an entry on the (Un)Happy Planet Map, a world map that displays how happy the people / planet as measured by longevity, life expectancy and ecological footprint, with a heavy emphasis on the later. The University of Leicester’s Adrian White has produced what he calls “the first map to illustrate international differences in happiness.” White looks only at people’s happiness, as based on studies conducted over a 3 year period that involved over 80,000. The resulting geographic / un-projected Flash map holds no real surprises: the rich western nations of the world seem to be the happiest, although the richest nation isn’t necessarily the happiest. The map is zoomable, pannable and downloadable in a variety of formats (the downloadable versions are projected).

Read The Globe and Mail story on the map.

3 Responses to “Map of the Happy Planet”

Anonymous on 9:33 PM

I'm intrigued by these maps, but don't necessarily subscribe to the methodology. Looking at Venezuela and Brazil (I've spent a good deal of time traveling in both places), for example, I can't help but wonder why one's red is more vibrant than the other. It's just a shade different, but still doesnt quite seem right.
Anonymous on 3:23 PM

I can't help but feel that the publisher of this map missed the clear design choice to symbolize "unhappy" in blue. I think a yellow-to-blue spectrum would have made the most sense from a design perspective.

ERD
Anonymous on 8:32 PM

Right - and World Happiness is rather, well, subjective in the extreme sense. It is also quantifying the obvious in terms of which parts of the earth people have food/water/health care/opportunities/peace etc. Well...assuming read the news of course.

Chris