Underground Cities: Mapping the tunnels, transits and networks underneath our feet

by Mark Ovenden

With over 60 per cent of the world’s population living in cities, the networks beneath our feet – which keep the cities above moving – are more important than ever before. Yet we never truly see how these amazing feats of engineering work.
 
Just how deep do the tunnels go? Where do the sewers, bunkers and postal trains run? And, how many tunnels are there under our streets? Each featured city presents a ‘skyline of the underground’  through specially commissioned cut-away illustrations and unique cartography. 

Drawing on geography, cartography and historical oddities, Mark Ovenden explores what our cities look like from the bottom up.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Geography, Maps, Urban Planning, Urbanism, Travel

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 22, 2020

About the author

Mark Ovenden is a British writer and broadcaster whose previous books include Transit Maps of the World and Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations and Designs of the Metro. He lives in Paris, France."

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars!

In spite of the incredibly enticing premise this was actually quite a flat and disappointing read. Yes it certainly had its fascinating and enlightening moments, here and there, and I learned a random thing or three about various cities of the world, but there was just something about this, which failed to hit it's intended target and I really expected a lot more from a book with such an alluring title.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book, since I have a fascination with hidden and abandoned places, both urban and industrial. I don’t have a courage to be one of those urban explorers who trespasses into forbidden places, but I do enjoy the pictures and stories.

With those types of expectations, I was really disappointed in “Underground Cities: Mapping the tunnels, transits and networks underneath our feet” by Mark Ovenden. There is very little here that is truly hidden or out of the ordinary – most of what is discussed is the histories of various subway systems around the world. The typical paragraph talks about “subway line X was built between years Y and Z and travels from station A to station B, a distance of C miles”. And that’s it – you might get a name of an abandoned station, but not much more. Other than a few brief mentions of underground bunkers, sewers, or catacombs (and they really are brief), it is all about a quick introduction to the city followed by subway line histories listed out.

I’m not sure who the target audience is – people who want a reference will find it too brief, people who want interesting stories will find it too dry. The photos are wonderful and really are the highlight of the book. The depth scale for each city (showing how deep underground each feature is) was interesting, and some of the drawings were nice as well (although many were just illustrations of subway stations, complete with escalator and stair placements). Overall, very disappointed.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion via NetGalley. Thank you!

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea there’s so much past and future underneath our feet. This is the book you want to read first if you are ever curious about sub-surface human-made structures in mayor cities around the world. It has a lot of images, illustrations and maps that truly makes you appreciate and understand the magnitude of these magnificent structures.

Structures beneath our feet

Mark Ovenden’s book explores 32 cities with underground spaces. Some of them you might have heard of, like New York City’s underground subway and London’s multiple tunnels, but even from those, you are very likely to learn a lot of new things about them. Something that I really liked about this book, is how it feels like a virtual journey. It starts at Los Angeles and follows the International Date Line. I wont list all 32, but some cities mentioned in this book are Mexico City, Toronto, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Oslo, Helsinki, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney.

When you read about the city in question, you get a quick glance at the origins of that piece of land. Way back in time to its foundation and how it evolved into becoming what it is today. I loved this. It’s like reading the biography of the land, focusing on what’s beneath it. It makes more sense the how and why of their underground structures once you learn about the city’s motivations and struggles.

Also, it is a great plus that this book contains a lot of visual elements. I can’t very well imagine how Chicago’s tunnels looked like back in 1924 but a black and white photo makes it ten times more real in my head. Also, a lot of illustrations were made by Robert Brandt, maps by Lovell Johns and a vertical ruler in meters (like those you see sometimes at science museums) for an easy graphical overview of the different structures of the city and their deepness.

The future of underground structures

Our journey to the past and present of what lies beneath our feet doesn’t end here. There’s also very interesting information about future plans and projects currently being developed for these underground areas. Did you now that in 2014 an enterprise bought an underground area which now produces hydroponic fresh micro greens and salad leaves 33 meters (108ft) below Clapham’s street in London?.

I truly enjoyed reading this book and learning a bit more about the past, present and future of our cities and their underground spaces. I would recommend this book to those interested about urban structures, historical storytelling and anyone who, like me, enjoy learning more about the world around us. If you have a relative who enjoys watching History Channel, I think this would make a great present.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

"the Richness and Diversity of These Sites"

This is a brisk, wide-ranging, and remarkably entertaining and informative piece of contemporary archaeology/urban design. Our guide is amiable and knowledgeable. While the tone is congenial the author keeps his eye on the subject at hand and the focus remains on the unique and fascinating.

The author has opted to organize the book as a circumnavigation of the globe, (starting in North and, briefly, South America), which adds a cultural and world traveling feeling that you wouldn't have with an alphabetical or similar arrangement.

Each city gets a different sort of treatment depending on what is most of note and interest. Thus, the chapter on Los Angeles is devoted to transportation, while in Mexico City we focus on the dried up lake upon which the city has been built. This approach manages to capture either a familiar aspect of a city's character, or a surprising and little know aspect. This is not merely a survey of the usual suspects, (for example, the London Tube map again). Of course we do lean heavily toward subways and the like; the theme is what's underground and phone cables aren't that fascinating. But our author has taken pains to seek out the odd and unusual as well.

On the matter of illustrations, the approach to drawings and photos seems of special, even primary, importance with a work like this. Here, schematics and cutaway or "exploded" drawings are used very effectively. I would have liked more large format photos, but that's always the case in books like this. And of course there are loads of maps.

Everyone will have favorite urban areas, of course, but I was very much taken by some of the more surprising and/or exotic selections. There weren't many surprise views of the New York City subway system, but Berlin, Helsinki, Budapest, Moscow, Tokyo, and Stockholm were particularly pleasant and intriguing surprises.

So, wildly browseable and deeply edifying, this is a well conceived, well written, and crisply designed and produced volume. An excellent find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know of books that forensically cover the subterranean London – the tube stations and platforms, sewers, bunker sites, and so much more, and I dare say there are equivalents for many cities if you know where to look. This is the first book I've read that portrays the general underground topology of multiple cities, taking anywhere large enough, impressive enough and interesting enough underground, and giving us all the gen a layman might want. It seems to start a little dryly, with LA, and the numerous street car companies and tunnels and where they went to and from – before you've found the large map accompanying that (and generally every other) city you might not have a foggiest where these things are in relation to anything. Each locale gets a similar treatment – vintage images and modern photography of some of their daylight-free zones, a full map of all the underground territory, and new diagrams, showing certain stations, submerged malls, or suchlike.

I think this is a hit, for it does seem to do what it wants to achieve, but I can't be sure it would get a wide audience. Five pages of text or whatever it is for every city does not provide the detail the spotter and geek would demand, and for anyone else there is a little bit of the trivial in knowing whether Toronto or Montreal are the most complex in their complexes. I think the most interesting thing here is the ghost station, second only to the supposition you get with Moscow and other cities about undeclared vaults, bunkers and tunnels – Tokyo is rife with the stuff, allegedly, but would Moscow really make it easy enough to see their secret second, deeper metro line network by latching it on to their first, or would they have not been forced to, due to lack of access space - and to get the carriages down there in the first place? Interesting items of infrastructure, such as robotic buried bike parks, are certainly of interest. Niche, but of interest – which is also the verdict for the whole book.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underground Cities by Mark Ovenden is an interesting view at what is beneath many of the cities of the world. While most such books concentrate on one city, often in mind-numbing detail, this one covers 32 cities in enough detail to pique interest in the topic more generally. It makes me curious about other cities as well as offers a few instances here that I will likely seek more details about.

My initial interest in the book was as something I could read in those brief moments when I have time to read a little but not enough time to get back into a novel or nonfiction work that requires concentration. It would have served that function well, much the way I use collections of short stories or essays, but I just kept reading because I was curious what some of the differences were between cities.

I would recommend this both to readers already with an interest in underground cities as well as those simply curious about the topic. Those already interested just need to understand this is not an in-depth look at any of these cities, it is an overview from which you can research or explore further.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cities and I am interested in public transport, so I devoured this book, but I think it would be a treat for every armchair traveller, especially in this pandemic time, when for many of us it is the only option to get away from everyday life.

Every city is decently described, with many surprising facts cited (I've been to some of this cities but had no idea about many curiosities), and with wonderful pictures, drawings and maps. My only complaint is that it should be at least twice thicker, but I count on the second volume! I am sure that I will come back to it many, many times and will buy copies of it for gifts.

Thanks to the publisher, Quarto Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always interested in learning about Underground places. Most of the books that I have read about the subject mainly cover London's Underground transport and also Underground Bunkers.
This book is much more varied as it features Cities all around the world, and not all of the studies are Subways. There are shopping centres, cities, a wide variety of places.
Each place has an extensive amount fillustrations and maps. There are photographs old and new and diagrams. The write-up is sometimes brief, but interesting.
If you have an interest in this subject, then this is an appealing and enjoyable book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting, but I think it would be great for someone with a greater urban design or architecture interest than I have. I liked the photos, although I was thinking it would have more photos or be more about the secrets of underground cities, rather than just the architecture and development.

I was provided a galley copy by the publisher.

[Patricia Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got interested on this book because of my profession and I was not disappointed with the content. The book is an enjoyable read, full of information not only on underpasses and subways (that have plans) but also other underground features such as vaults, bunkers, and tunnels. The comparison of the depths and maps were fascinating.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

[DW Rowlands · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was kind of disappointing...it felt more like a collection of trivia than anything else, and it was notable how much it focused on European cities, and Western cities more generally: only three cities outside Europe and the Americas were included, while dozens of European ones were.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but I don't think it has widespread appeal. As with any sort of coffee table book, I wish this had more pictures and illustrations.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Ovenden writes brilliant books about maps and this is no exception. This time its not just train tunnels but all different types

[Shant · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little interesting but kind of out of repetitive if you aren't into transit. At least I learned about the Hollywood/Vine Station.

[Félix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview, but more an atlas of different types of underground services in cities