Beneath the Metropolis: The Secret Lives of Cities By Alex Marshall

A fascinating book. A quote from Alex Marshall web page:
"The pulse of great cities may be most palpable above ground, but it is below the busy streets where we can observe their rich archaeological history and the infrastructure that keeps them running. In The Secret Lives of Cities journalist Alex Marshall investigates how geological features, archaeological remnants of past civilizations, and layered networks transporting water, electricity, and people, have shaped these cities through centuries of political turbulence and advancements in engineering — and how they are determining the course of the cities' future."

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York by Peter Derrick

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York by Peter Derrick is a fabulous book, a must for transportation and urban planners. I presented a review of the book to the Houston Property Rights Association. Following is a bullet point summary of the book about the New York subway:
- The Dual System of Rapid Transit was of unrivaled significance for the development of New York City
- It set the pattern of growth of residential areas
- Largest and most expensive single municipal project ever built
- Subways saved New York from problems related to rapid population growth and improved quality of life (tenement houses)
- Helped developed midtown Manhattan as on of the world’s largest employment center
Personally, the book provides data showing that (unlike the popular believe) the NY subway was developed to take people away from downtown into the suburbs. Today people think that the subway created the population density found in New York and other large cities.