Urban trees -- or the lack thereof --
can reveal income inequality. After writing that article, De Chant got curious: Could we actually
see income inequality from space? Yes, and it turned out to be much easier to see than expected. Simple satellite images from Google Earth show adjacent neighborhoods from a selection of cities around the world. In case it isn’t obvious at first sight, the first image is that of the less well-off neighborhood, the second a nearby wealthier one. For example, two space photos follow, taken near Berkeley, one of blighted
Oakland, another of blessed
Piedmont. It turns out trees are an excellent predictor of poverty and therefore also of abundance.
More
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| Beautiful residential green Piedmont in hills above Berkeley (persquaremile.com) |
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| Dreadful residential concrete-grey Oakland south of Berkeley (persquaremile.com) |
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