Interactive World Bank Project Map

Overview of Shiny Application

Soren Heitmann
May, 2015

Overview

This presentation introduces the World Bank Interactive Project Map, a shiny application available online here: https://neros.shinyapps.io/wb_project_map/

The map reports aggregate World Bank project funding activity by time period for either:
(1) All active projects in a given year (2) For a range period of active projects

User Interface:

(1) Two timeline slide bars (2) Country detail mouse-over (3) "play" buttons (under slider bars)

The Data Includes:

  • Active and Closed country-specific projects (excluding multi-country, regional or global).
  • Project volumes are taken as the maximum of project's total size or commited financing

This application's data source is publicly-available World Bank Project data.

Using the Map: What can we see?

Post WW II Reconstruction

The Interactive Map illustrates a number of interesting points

The World Bank (the specific institution is called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or IBRD) was founded to help finance reconstruction post World War II.

We can see this mandate clearly from 1947 and into the 1950s, with active projects in Western Europe, Japan and Australia.

Over time, we can see a shift in strategy as the bank moves from reconstruction to development, with financing into Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Using the Map: What can we see?

Shift to economic growth and development

As early as the 1950s, we can see strategic focus in Brazil and India, which remain in-focus through today; and funding moving into Africa.

China emerges as a strategic focus in the mid-1980s, with funding leading into East Asia Pacific a few years earlier and then growing.

With the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990's, funding emerges into the former Soviet Bloc. Afterward, the map highlights the emergence of the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China), as projects support these fast-growing economies.

Into the late 90s and 2000s, greater emphasis moves into Africa, with more countries receiving lending and in proportionally greater volumes

R-Embedded Example Map

A shiny chart (an R expression that's evaluated and displayed--echo off for space), reporting the full, global World Bank lending history: All projects from 1947-2015. Total project volumes exceed $206 bn USD. Try the mouse-over to explore specific countries. Try the application to explore the timeline interactivity.