QGIS is a free and pretty powerful GIS tool.
The OP output above is directly from the PNG export.
Attached is an example of zooming into the Corpus area.
Where possible, I'm trying to use pre-existing GIS data (for example, roads, land use, rivers, lakes, water).
For settlement data, I have a settlement database shapefile (that's where the smaller text "Robstown: 11,487" comes from - it's settlement name, and current 2022 population).
In T2K terms, settlements need to be re-input.
Right now, what I am doing is creating 4 different shapefiles.
1. Destroyed urban areas (Houston et al)
2. Intact large urban areas (e.g., San Antonio)
3. Settlement symbols (village, town, small city) - large cities are visualized by #2.
4. Settlement names (also has a size component)
This could technically be loaded into an Excel file also, here's basically the data needed:
1. Coordinates (lat, lon)
2. Name (string)
3. Size (village, town, small city, large city)
4. Intact (yes/no)
5. Hidden (large metro areas have dozens of towns, usually suppress all but the major ones).
From a sizing perspective, the basic heuristic I've settled on is using current 2022 pops:
<4,000 = village
<40,000 = town
<200,000 = small city
>200,000 = large city
City size affects city symbol and font size display rendering.
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