Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (People’s Uprising Rally / #KL112) was a protest rally held at Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on January 12th, 2012. It was organised by Pakatan Rakyat and various NGOs.
At its peak the crowd is estimated to have been between 63,976 – 78,193 people. This number is not expected to be revised, unless some new evidence surfaces to suggest a different crowd size.
Methodology
Photos and videos that showed the size of the crowd were evaluated. These were used to determine the extents of the area covered by the crowd and the crowd density. The area was then refined by removing obstacles and estimating the percentage of space used. A crowd density of 4 – 12 sq.ft. per person was used.
Building the polygons
After initial evaluation of the photos, one was chosen as a reference to build the polygons from. The polygons were then adjusted after evaluating photos and videos. The steps are shown in the diagram below:
- The original photo
- Satellite photo, perspective-adjusted
- The original photo, perspective-adjusted to match the satellite photo
- The completed polygons on the map
Result
The polygons in the map below shows the extents of the crowd, divided into different zones. The total space covered by the polygons is 456,627.05 sq. ft. The space taken up by the crowd is 275,532.03 sq. ft. These measurements do not include the stadium seating.
The estimated crowd in each zone is:
A = 20,122 people
B = 1,188 people
C = 8,652 people
D = 2,474 people
E = 7,428 people
F = 1,221 people
Stadium seating = 30,000 people
Total = 71,085 people
Margin of error is +/- 10%.
The estimated size of the crowd is 63,976 – 78,193 people.
Additional reference photos
These satellite and perspective photos of Stadium Merdeka were used to measure the fixed area of the stadium.
Some photos of the crowd:
Some shots from a distance:
Disclaimer
- The shaded areas on the Google Map are there to give an idea of the area used in calculation. It is not drawn with the actual latitude/longitude coordinates used in our maths, which was a more detailed polygon.
- Calculated area total does not include buildings. A more detailed polygon was used for calculation. This polygon could not be exported for use in Google Maps, so an approximate shape was redrawn.
- Buildings are at an angle in satellite images, so lines that appear to be going through are actually going through an open area next to it.
- All figures in this post are estimates, and not expected to be 100% accurate.
