{
"type": "Feature",
"geometry": {
"type": "Point",
"coordinates": [-73.96964, 40.66142]
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"properties": {
"name": "Chris Whong",
"about": "Brooklyn-based spatial developer and urbanist",
"training": "urban planning (MUP, NYU Wagner)",
"tags": [
"spatial-developer",
"web-mapper",
"developer-advocate",
"urbanist",
"educator"
]
}
}About
I'm a spatial developer, urbanist, and educator working at the intersection of maps, data, and cities. My work spans interactive web mapping, geospatial tooling, and helping developers build with location technology.
At Mapbox I lead the Developer Relations team and work as a Developer Evangelist — creating technical content, documentation, code examples, tutorials, and demos that help developers get the most out of the platform. I also teach a graduate-level course at NYU Wagner on interactive web mapping, helping prepare the next generation of tech-literate urban planners and public servants.
Web-based frontends are my home turf, but the work has ranged well beyond them: I've shipped mobile mapping applications, led product visioning and solutions engineering, built developer advocacy programs, and managed small teams doing great work.
Earlier in my career I founded NYC Planning Labs, a digital services team at the NYC Department of City Planning, where I led the development of mapping applications and data tools for urban planners across the five boroughs.
Writing
I write about maps, cities, civic data, and the occasional weekend project.
Analyzing the Recovery of the NYC Subway during COVID-19
Read on MediumNeighborhoodBuilding a Little Free Library in Brooklyn, NYC
Read on MediumDocs ToolingSpell Check Your Docusaurus Site with Unified Engine and Retext
Read on MediumCartographyVisualizing the Distortion of WebMercator Maps with an Orange Peel
Read on MediumExperience
Head of Developer Relations
New York City Metropolitan Area
Leading a team of documentation engineers and developer evangelists building the developer experience for Mapbox's location platform — always working to reduce friction for both beginners and power users.
- ▸Own docs.mapbox.com, a multi-site, highly customized Docusaurus platform providing a unified documentation experience across Mapbox's APIs and SDKs.
- ▸Build demo apps, developer playgrounds, and tutorials that show the platform in action.
- ▸Write technical blog posts and speak at developer events.
- ▸Grow and support developer community spaces on Discord and Reddit.
Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Planning
New York City Metropolitan Area
Teaching two graduate-level tech courses preparing the next generation of tech and data-literate public servants.
- ▸URPL-GP-2618 — Advanced GIS: Interactive Web Mapping. Fundamentals of modern web development, mapping with Mapbox GL JS, and open source tools.
- ▸URPL-GP-1620 — Spatial Analysis and Visualization. Introductory data analysis with open data using R, Python, and QGIS.
Product Lead/Outreach Engineer
Brooklyn, NY
Developer outreach and technical writing for Qri's open-source, distributed version control system for datasets, including demos and tutorials around dataset tracking and analysis. Later moved into product leadership: user testing, feature scoping, short-term engineering planning, documentation, and frontend development.
Founder and Director of NYC Planning Labs
New York City Metropolitan Area
Built spatial web applications and data tools for NYC urban planners, including the NYC Capital Planning Explorer. Went on to found and lead Planning Labs, a new division of the NYC Department of City Planning that embraces open technology, agile development, and user-centered design to build impactful products with NYC's Urban Planners. Shipped ZoLa (Zoning and Land Use Application) and Population FactFinder.
Solutions Engineer
Solutions Engineer responsible for rapid development and proofs of concept using CartoDB web mapping technologies. Supported the sales team with product demos, evangelism, and technical training.
Education
New York University
2011 – 2013
Master of Urban Planning
Focus: Environment, Transportation and Infrastructure
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
University of Maryland
1998 – 2003
Bachelor of Science, Geography
Studied Geography and GIS. Also drove a bus for a while.
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Honors & Awards
Best Motion Infographic
Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards · Nov 2014
Awarded for NYC Taxis - A Day in the Life — a civic technology project visualizing taxi trip data from 2013, showing the activities of a single taxi on a single day across ~170 million trips. Data was provided by the Taxi and Limousine Commission via a FOIL request.
Volunteering
Organizer / Brigade Captain
BetaNYC
May 2013 – Dec 2014 · Science and Technology
Organized NYC's civic hacking community, running events and projects that put open government data to work for New Yorkers.
Super Steward: Care Captain
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Jan 2021 – Present · Trained Street Tree Care Volunteer
Trained to care for street trees and tree beds in my neighborhood, and to recruit and support other volunteer stewards.
Citizen Pruner
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Jul 2023 – Present · Certified Street Tree Pruner
Certified to prune young street trees, helping them grow into healthy mature trees across Brooklyn.
Board Member
Brooklyn Community Board 6
May 2022 – May 2024
Represented my neighborhood on land use, transportation, and parks issues affecting the district.
Map Developer
Shorewalkers / The Great Saunter
2023 – Present
Built and maintain the interactive route map used by thousands of saunterers walking the shoreline of Manhattan each year.