Ancient Walled City & Modern Rapid Transit Scale Comparison

Athens, 350 BCE
population c. 60,000
Athens 350 BCE map Rome, 200 BCE
population c. 200,000
Rome 200 BCE map Rome, 300 CE
population c. 800,000
Rome 300 CE map Constantinople, 500 CE
population c. 500,000
Constantinople 500 CE map Chang'an, 700 CE
population c. 1,000,000
Chang'an 700 CE map Hangzhou, 1200 CE
population c. 600,000
Hangzhou 1200 CE map Milan, 1200 CE
population c. 100,000
Milan 1200 CE map Cairo, 1300 CE
population c. 400,000
Cairo 1300 CE map London, 1300 CE
population c. 80,000
London 1300 CE map Lisbon, 1400 CE
population c. 60,000
Lisbon 1400 CE map Paris, 1400 CE
population c. 300,000
Paris 1400 CE map Seoul, 1400 CE
population c. 100,000
Seoul 1400 CE map Beijing, 1500 CE
population c. 700,000
Beijing 1500 CE map Naples, 1500 CE
population c. 100,000
Naples 1500 CE map Seville, 1500 CE
population c. 60,000
Seville 1500 CE map Tenochtitlan, 1500 CE
population c. 200,000
Tenochtitlan 1500 CE map Moscow, 1600 CE
population c. 100,000
Moscow 1600 CE map Beijing, 1800 CE
population c. 1,100,000
Beijing 1800 CE map

versions without rapid transit overlaid (with additional cities)

Cities to show:
Athens 350 BCE
Rome 200 BCE
Rome 300 CE
Constantinople 500 CE
Chang'an 700 CE
Hangzhou 1200 CE
Milan 1200 CE
Cairo 1300 CE
London 1300 CE
Lisbon 1400 CE
Paris 1400 CE
Seoul 1400 CE
Beijing 1500 CE
Naples 1500 CE
Seville 1500 CE
Tenochtitlan 1500 CE
Moscow 1600 CE
Beijing 1800 CE
show all hide all

Scale: = 1 km (60 CSS pixels per km)

Population estimates extremely approximate. Please send any corrections or questions to threestationsquare at gmail dot com.

See also: rapid transit timelines - miscellaneous timelines and maps

By Alexander Rapp (CC-BY-SA) based on map data by OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) contributors and historical sources.