The "best of 2012" lists are just starting to spread and, already, one of the most unique collections we've come across is Caitlin Dempsey's look at the year's most interesting maps. You don't have to be a cartographer to enjoy these visualizations.
From a hypnotic respresentation of the raw power of nature to a meticulously hand-crafted geography of the United States, Dempsey's collection of the most "fascinating maps and GIS data visualizations that caught the public’s attention this year," covers a wide range of technologies, topics, and techniques.
Notable maps include the sliding scale population density of the world created by Derek Watkins and the dynamic wind map created by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg of the site HINT.FM. The wind map was created by the leaders of Google’s “Big Picture” visualization research group as a personal art project. "The artists note on their site, 'We invent new ways for people to think and talk about data' and this wind map certainly achieved that," adds Dempsey.
FULL STORY: Six of this Year’s Most Interesting Maps

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
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Spain Moves to Ban 66,000 Airbnbs
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