Mapping Diversity by Sheldon.studio

You might make little of it as you pass through Avenue Victor Hugo in Paris, Via Garibaldi in Venice, or Strada Xenofon in Bucharest. Yet once you start paying attention to it, you can't stop wondering: Where are all the women? Why are there so many saints and soldiers and so few scientists? Why so many white men?
Meaningful patterns emerge once you systematically count who is present or excluded from our toponymy. The lack of diversity in street names doesn't just tell a story about the type of society we inherited or live in. It tells us something about the one we perpetuate. This begs the question: in the street names of contemporary Europe, who is visible and who remains invisible?
The Mapping Diversity platform sets out to answer this question. By combining linked open data with engaging visual storytelling, the reader can explore all the facts about the gender gap in major European cities.
Visitors of the platform can read summary statistics about the street names across European cities and drill down in maps to discover specific street name dedications.
With a click, a visitor can auto-generate a social media card with data visualizations and insight on the selected city and quickly share it to populate the (digital) public sphere with provocative facts about the stereotypes and power dynamics embedded in our urban lives.
Mapping Diversity is more than a project; it is a digital commons, a platform which is also nurtured by the active involvement of visitors, who can contribute data and use it as an inspiration for local community actions.