Tracing History Through Street Names
A Street View Based Interactive Website Tracing Hong Kong's Colonial PastOverview
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
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
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.