Member-only story
As Disasters Mount, Our Cities May Need to Move Underground
Temperatures are rising, and urban centers are packed. To preserve livable societies, some argue we should build ‘Earthscrapers.’
In just a few years, Mexico City will be the most crowded city in North America, perhaps in the Western Hemisphere. With 22 million people, it’s one of the fastest growing populations in the world. There are few tall buildings. Zoning restrictions abound. And it is quickly running out of land on which to expand. Geographic boundaries block it in. This is a metropolis bordered by mountains and volcanoes — the Sierra Nevadas to the east; and lower sierras and ranges to the north, west, and south. For millennia, hordes of people have been drawn to this area because of its wealth of natural resources — pine forests and rivers, wildlife, and even saltwater lakes. There is food and water aplenty. But now there is no more room to grow.
Tokyo, with 38 million residents, is the most populated metro area in the world. It has grown upward, with skyscrapers, and outward without the impediments of hard natural boundaries. Similarly, New York City has jumped the East River and morphed into Brooklyn and Queens and beyond. For Mexico City, there is no such luck. And Mexico City is on track to add millions more people by…
