Imagine two villages, Blobwille and Stickwille. How do we decide which one deserves a railway station for transport? Both have the same population. And a similar number of car owners. It’s a fierce competition!
Time to consult the map.
Blobwille has a homogenous population density – no bulges. But Stickwille is different. Look at that rectangular piece poking out of Stickwille’s stomach, lined with houses – we won’t have to spend on an expansive bus infrastructure to motivate those people to ride the train!
What just happened? That rectangular strip, packed with houses, was a specific neighborhood of Stickwille – a local property – but the outcome is global: The entire village of Stickwille gets a railway station.
Isn’t that a bit like Algebraic Geometry?
- Just in case you’re curious, the particular form of Stickwille in the image is inspired from Knonau and that of Blobwille from Aesch. ↩︎
Numbers Matter 