Friday Eye Candy: 'Crayon the Grids' City Mapping

Artist-scientist Stephen Von Worley is taking on a new project— mapping the world's city streets based on a complex set of algorithms and psychedelic colors.

1 minute read

November 7, 2014, 5:00 AM PST

By Maayan Dembo @DJ_Mayjahn


Canyon the Grids

Steve Von Worley / Canyon the Grids

As discussed on Urbanful by John Benjamin, Stephen Von Worley's newest project is called Crayon the Grids. It uses a variety of colors like hot pink, lime green, orange, and deep purple in correlation "to the angle of each street and the city’s cardinal points, with visual weight being added to avenues that serve as anchors to each grid. Different colors, in other words, mean different orientations; different thickness signifies the importance of the road as a thoroughfare."

While grid-oriented cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles boast maps that are predominantly one color with other splotches mixed in, older radial cities like Paris, Berlin, and London are awash with intersecting colors and lines.

The maps provide insight on the cohesion of city streets, and the expansion of the city over time. Worsley has created maps for a variety of different cities, which can be found here.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 in Urbanful

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Rendering of Penrose Roundabout in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia Is Expanding its Network of Roundabouts

Roundabouts are widely shown to decrease traffic speed, reduce congestion, and improve efficiency.

15 minutes ago - WHYY

Green painted bike lane with striped buffer between car lane and curb parking lane.

Why Bike Lanes Are Good: An Explainer for the US Transportation Secretary

Sean Duffy says there’s no evidence that bike lanes have benefits. Streetsblog — and federal agencies’ own data — beg to differ.

2 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

Yellow electric school bus with preteen students exiting.

California Invests Additional $5M in Electric School Buses

The state wants to electrify all of its school bus fleets by 2035.

April 25 - Associated Press