Original Graph

I found this graph showing the percent of countries’ population on Our World in Data. The graph itself is fairly clean and easy to read. However, it falls short in a few areas. For one, the dots and colors make the lines visually cluttered, making it more difficult than it should be to discern what the graph is trying to say. This is due to the fact that the graph is setting a point for each year from 1960 to 2022, which is rather unnecessary, seeing as the graph is trying to show trends, as opposed to the actual percentages from year to year. In addition, the colors used in the graph are hard to read, and are rather harsh on the eyes. And finally, the graph labels each line as “High-income country,” and other various descriptors, but does not elaborate on what these categories exactly entail, leaving the reader with confused on what they actually mean. I have attempted to accurately recreate the graph in R below.

New Graph

Our World in Data did a pretty good job of making this graph, with a few exceptions. First, I searched online to see what exactly the categories used on the original graph meant, finding that they are actually categories used by the World Bank to sort affluent countries from the less affluent countries. I also found that the World Bank does not use “Middle Income” as a classification, rather choosing to use two categories “Lower-middle” and “Upper-middle,” so I removed it from the graph and dataset. This has the added effect of displaying the still-large gap between rich and poor countries from 1960 to today, which is the trend that the graph is trying to show. In addition, the sheer amount of dots for each year makes the line hard to read, and adds unnecessary noise. As such, I’ll remove the dots from the graph, but retain the line. After all, the point of this graph isn’t to be able to tell the amount of people living in urban areas in a certain year, but is rather trying to show the trend of urbanization as a whole. The colors used in the graph are also rather hard to see, as they are harsh and bright, and may be inaccessible to those with forms of color blindness. As such, I have replaced the color palette with one that’s easier on the eyes, and accessible to those with color blindness. Finally, as the graph itself does not define what each category of country represents, so I have added brief descriptions below the graph as well.