Around the world, every city offers something different. Though they all have hustle and bustle, lots of buildings, and usually traffic, when you’re on their streets you would never mistake San Francisco for Cairo, Toronto for Tokyo, or Berlin for Rio de Janeiro. But what about from space? During the day, these cities tend to blend in with their surrounding countryside. However, when lit up at night, it’s easy to see how varied these cities can be.
Is it possible to tell anything about the life and culture of our cities when viewing their lights from above? You might be surprised at how much.
Landmarks
Can you guess which cultural icon jumps out of this landscape?
Said to be the brightest spot on Earth, this landmark stands out because of its brightness and diverse light colors. Still stumped? I’ll tell you at the end of this post 🙂
Age
You can also tell a ton about a city’s history by looking at the color and pattern of the city lights.
Check out this shot of Milan from above. The streets are irregular and web-like, common in older cities.
Now, take a look at this photograph of Denver, a much newer city. The streets are mapped out in a much more orderly, grid-like way, aligned North-South and East-West.
If you notice the colors of the lights in these two cities, you can also get a better idea of their ages. Milan’s tint is slightly more greenish, meaning many of the streets still use mercury vapor lighting, an older, greener light source. Denver looks more orange, because most of its streets have sodium vapor lighting. However, looking at the few green splotches in Denver, you can even tell where the older neighborhoods are.
Locale
The color of city lights can also reveal where in the world the city is located. For instance, Japanese cities are often characterized by their almost exclusive blue-green glow. Check out this shot of Tokyo:
The majority of urban areas in Tokyo use green mercury vapor lamps. Only the most newly built areas glow the standard orange.
Development
When examining a city’s lights from above, you can also learn about development, community growth, and infrastructure. Check out this unique photo of two cities from two countries side-by-side – the border towns Cuidad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
Cuidad Juarez houses at least 1.3 million people, while El Paso’s population is just over 600,000. Though the cities have about the same amount of area, you can tell El Paso’s density is much less.
It’s amazing how much we can learn from a city’s lights alone. What are the lights like in your city? Spill it!
(Still in the dark about that mystery landmark? If you guessed the Las Vegas Strip, you’re right on the money!)