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Tracing History Through Street Names

A Street View Based Interactive Website Tracing Hong Kong's Colonial Past

Overview

The naming of streets and roads is rarely arbitrary, in fact, it often embeds hints of a place’s local history. Many of the street names in Hong Kong reflects its colonial past (the 1800s — 1997), with streets being named after the British royal family and officials.

Tracing History Through Street Names is an interactive website using various forms of maps — 2D, street view, and satellite imagery — to trace the history of streets in Hong Kong and the relationship between the city and its former colonial ruler. 

︎ Explore the Live Site
Role

Concept, Interaction & Visual Design, Development

Tools

JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Google Maps API, Google Earth Studio

Features: Street View Comparison
  • I restricted the Street Views to be only showing locations in Hong Kong (on the left) and in the UK (on the right). 
  • I enabled autocomplete for the search box, and limit the search to only streets and roads, so viewers can find a street in Hong Kong without prior knowledge of the city. 
  • I coded the control interactions for two street views to be in sync — when the viewer zooms or rotates on one side of the street view, the other side follows.


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