SDG Viz: A Web-based System for Visualizing Sustainable Development Indicators

Abstract. To promote sustainable development, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (e.g., “No poverty” and “Zero hunger”) with a set of 169 targets. To measure and track the progress, 230 indicators have been developed. It has been recognized by many international communities (e.g., ICA and ISPRS) that effective visualization of SDG indicators so as to communicate the SDG status to the public and decision-makers is one of the key issues. In this study, a web-based visualization system called “SDG Viz” has been developed for such a purpose. This system has two main components: visual representation and visual interaction. For visual representation, it has the capacity of producing thematic maps such as choropleth maps, proportional symbol maps, 3D maps and animated maps. For visual interaction, the framework of three stages cartographic interaction proposed by Roth was adopted as the basic for design of system functions. Some interaction functions have also been developed, such as identify, compare, rank, associate and delineate. It is believed that this system is potentially valuable for visualizing SDG indicators.