This Timelapse Animation Lets You See the Rise of Cities Across the Globe, from 3700 BC to 2000 AD

In 2016, a research project led by Yale developed a groundbreaking dataset that documented the evolution of urban settlements over a period of 6,000 years. Beginning in 3700 BC with the emergence of the first urban dwellings in Sumer, the project tracked the locations and sizes of cities worldwide up to 2000 AD.

According to Yale's Meredith Reba, comprehending the historical growth and transformation of cities could provide insights into their current changes and help in creating sustainable modern cities. The dataset from Yale was first released in Scientific Data in 2016.

Subsequently, a resourceful YouTuber animated the data, showcasing the unfolding history of urban life in a captivating visual representation that starts off slowly but gains momentum as it progresses.

You can read more about the mapping of urban settlements at this Yale website. And see the animated map in a larger format here.