Maps have been a foundational navigation tool for millennia. They put the places we want to travel to in the context of where we are. Over time, technology has helped us create even more geospatially accurate maps. But some of the most renowned and beloved maps for navigation don’t match the real world closely at all.
This animated map shows how the clean lines and schematics of subway maps compare to their real-world locations. It uses data from OpenStreetMap to explore these differences across six of the most famous subway systems on Earth. They include:
- The Tube—London, England
- Tokyo Metro—Tokyo, Japan
- Paris Métro—Paris, France
- Delhi Metro—Delhi, India
- Moscow Metro—Moscow, Russia
- New York City Subway—New York, New York, USA
For each subway system, the video shows the version of the map that millions of public transit riders interact with every day. After the basemap fades out, the lines and their stations twist and stretch before settling into their real-world representation. A new basemap then appears to provide context about where these lines and stations exist in reality.
It’s an effective way to focus on how these intentionally designed subway maps simplify the complexity of real-world networks and locations. After all, these maps need to be readily understood by busy travelers on the go. Positional accuracy and geographic fidelity are less important.
Some systems retain their real-world shapes and density more than others. For example, the Moscow Metro does have several circular routes around the city with diagonal routes connecting them. It may not be as elegant as it appears in the subway map, but you can see how the two relate.
The utility of a map isn’t defined by how well it reflects reality. Great maps are intuitive and clearly communicate their core ideas. These subway maps reflect the ingenuity and skill of cartographers and designers who can abstract reality into easily understandable shapes.
More to Explore
- Learn about the history of New York’s iconic Vignelli map.
- Explore a creative redesign of the Paris Metro map.
