Connect with us

Cities

This Clever Map is a Window into 19th Century New York City

Published

on

The early 19th century was a time of great change for New York, which had already cemented its status as America’s largest city.

The opening of the Erie Canal helped turn the city into a shipping powerhouse, and there was a building boom on the horizon. Cholera epidemics, fires, and riots swept through the city at various points.

This fascinating interactive map, from Esri, is a snapshot of New York City during the tumultuous time (1836 to be exact), overlaid on the modern-day satellite map.

Getting the Lay of the Land

The base map used above is the stunning “Topographical Map Of The City and County Of Newโ€“York, and the adjacent Country”, published by the prodigious mapmaker, Joseph Colton.

For easy viewing, the map’s legend is below:

1836 nyc map legend

This map includes all the usual features, such as roads and prominent buildings, but it also has some clever secondary information built in as well. For one, shading indicates ares that were more built-up at the time. There are also a number of visual techniques to indicate topographical features as well. After all, NYC wasn’t as extensive as it is today, and much of the land depicted in the map is still undeveloped.

The full map is well worth exploring as well, as there are a number of beautiful illustrations throughout.


Tool tip: Click the X on the info bar to hide it. (Mobile: Click the map, then the magnifying glass.)

The Big Picture: New York City in 1836

At this point in time, development in Lower Manhattan extended until about 14th Street, where buildings began to give way to open spaces. The city’s grid pattern was beginning to take shape, following the Commissioners’ Plan laid out in 1811. At the time, New York was anticipating massive growth, and the straightforward grid pattern was an efficient way to prepare the city for rapid expansion.

In the 1800s, fire was an ever-present danger for city dwellers. In fact, a major fire tore through Lower Manhattan a year prior to when this map was published.

great fire nyc 1935 map

Points of Interest

There are a number of points worth visiting on this map.

Transit Begins to Take Shape

In the 1830s, New York Cityโ€™s first railroad lineโ€”horse powered for its first few yearsโ€”connected Prince Street to the Harlem River, accelerating the cityโ€™s expansion northward from Lower Manhattan. This route is still recognizable today as the Harlem Line.

Evolving Shorelines

One very obvious difference between the two maps is how much land has been reclaimed along shorelines in the area. Battery Park City, on the west side of downtown, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard are two prominent examples of infill. Randall’s Island, located near the top of Manhattan, is also an interesting place to observe changes in topography. Randall’s Island is actually made up of three islands that were eventually conjoined in the 1960s.

This interactive map is a great place to explore changes to NYC’s shoreline over time.

Taming the Landscape

Midtown Manhattan is worth zooming into for a couple of reasons. First, the outline of Central Park is visible, although the park would officially be approved until almost 20 years later.

As well, this topographical map clearly shows the numerous outcroppings spread across the island. Manhattan was far from flat in the 1800s, and it took a tremendous amount of effortโ€”starting with gunpowder, pickaxes, and horse-drawn cartsโ€”to level the land.

Looking at these historical maps is a reminder that the New York City we know today is the product of hundreds of years of human effort, and that cities continue to evolve over time.

Subscribe to Visual Capitalist
Click for Comments

China

Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

We rank the world’s leading cities with the most skyscrapers, highlighting China’s remarkable dominance in building vertically.

Published

on

Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

When it comes to soaring skylines and architectural marvels, no country has embraced the vertical revolution quite like China.

In this graphic, which uses data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), we reveal the 25 cities with the most skyscrapers and supertall buildings globally.

Unsurprisingly, China’s cities dominate the list, solidifying the country’s reputation as a global powerhouse of tall buildings.

The 25 Top Cities by Skyscraper Count

Topping the charts is Hong Kong, with an impressive 657 skyscrapers, including six supertalls (buildings over 300 meters tall).

RankCityCountrySkyscrapers (>150m)Supertalls (>300m)
1Hong Kong๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China6576
2Shenzhen๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China51316
3New York City๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States42116
4Dubai๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates39528
5Guangzhou๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China25411
6Shanghai๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China2505
7Kuala Lumpur๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia2115
8Chongqing๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China2055
9Tokyo๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan2000
10Wuhan๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1835
11Chicago๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States1787
12Jakarta๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia1601
13Chengdu๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1500
14Bangkok๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand1333
15Shenyang๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1293
16Singapore๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore1280
17Nanning๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1226
18Mumbai๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India1140
19Tianjin๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1093
20Nanjing๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1087
21Toronto๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada1060
22Busan๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea1064
23Seoul๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea1042
24Changsha๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China975
25Melbourne๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia941

Hong Kong, along with Shenzhen (#2), and Guangzhou (#5) are part of the burgeoning megacity known as the Pearl River Delta, which is home to over 1,500 skyscrapers. This is even more impressive when considering that Shenzhen was a small fishing village until the 1970s.

New York City secures the third position on the list, boasting an impressive tally of 421 skyscrapers. Although it may have relinquished its title to Chinese cities, the city’s skyline endures as a globally renowned symbol, prominently featuring the iconic Empire State Building. Notably, while the Empire State Building enjoys widespread familiarity, it no longer ranks among the world’s 50 tallest structures.

Rounding out the top five is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which grabs the fourth position with 395 skyscrapers, a staggering 28 of which are supertalls. This desert oasis has become synonymous with grandiose architecture and record-breaking structures, exemplified by the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s current tallest building at 828 meters (2,715 ft).

China’s Numbers in Context

Looking at this data from another perspective, China actually has more skyscrapers on this list than the rest of the world combined.

CountryCities in Top 25SkyscrapersSupertalls
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China12277772
๐ŸŒ Rest of World13235067

China’s rapid urbanization, economic growth, and ambitious construction projects have fueled this impressive feat. There’s no doubt that the country’s relentless pursuit of vertical development, coupled with its booming population and thriving cities, has positioned China as the unrivaled leader in the global skyscraper race.

The Future of the Global Skyline

As the world continues to reach new heights in architectural marvels, there are even more supertall skyscrapers in the pipeline that will reshape skylines across the globe.

From the soaring Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, poised to surpass the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building, to the remarkable Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which is set to claim the title of the world’s second-tallest structure when it opens in June 2023, these projects will captivate city dwellers for years to come.

Even as these new monumental buildings rise, China’s prominence in the world of skyscrapersโ€”with three cities in the top five globallyโ€”is likely to remain unchallenged.

Continue Reading

Subscribe

Popular