This shocking map imagines if London were Aleppo

News from Syria seems to get worse every day, but in this relatively safe city of ours, it can be hard to imagine the scale of death and destruction in a far-off civil war. This interactive map brings it into sharp focus.

Data visualiser Hans Hack has taken UN satellite information on the destruction of Aleppo, the biggest city in Syria until the civil war, and ‘reprojected’ it on to a map of London – with pretty harrowing results. The Tower of London, the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham Palace have been razed. Railway links have been destroyed, cutting off London Bridge station from the outside world. City Hall, the Olympic Stadium, King’s Cross station and Tate Modern are all gone. Camden, Islington, Dalston and Hampstead are decimated, or worse.

Of course, the map doesn’t show human casualties: the civil war has claimed around 31,000 lives in the Aleppo region. But it’s still stark viewing and a reminder of how different life is today in a city not too different from ours.

See the full interactive map here.

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