Getting Away From It All

[Created by Andy Nelson for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the World Bank]

Getting off the beaten path is a bit trickier than it used to be.

This map reveals the ever-diminishing, remote areas that are left. Here, the brightest areas are the most densly populated and accessible, while darker regions are the more secluded, with blue lines representing shipping lanes. “Remote” areas must be is at least 48 hours away from a major city: and with web-like development of roads, railways, and shipping lanes, approximately 10 percent of the world’s land can be considered remote. Judging from Nelson’s map, much of this ten percent remains isolated simply because it is uninhabitable.

A majority of the world’s population lives within an hour of a major city, largely because “accessibility is a precondition for the satisfaction of almost any economic or social need,” Nelson says. “The main story of the map is connectivity. It brings home how important it is to manage our resources, lifestyles, and economies in a sustainable manner, since we are all interdependent, and shows the remote places left behind. It also reminds us that the price of connectivity is that there is little wilderness left.”

While most of us aren’t looking for homes yet, this is in important element to keep in mind when the time comes. When regions are accessible, they become populated. My personal experiences in Montana showed me that logging roads—intended for logging trucks—became portals for people to live deeper in the wilderness, feel like they “got away from it all:” all with an easy road that could zip them back to town as soon as they ran out of tissues or detergent. It may feel like the best way to be close to Mother Nature is to live “out-there” or in a place with a large yard and plenty of space. In actuality though, discouraging frequent use of such wide-spanning roads is the key. If it’s between a high-rise or a cabin-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, hail Urbania!