An is a network of Tunnel s that connect buildings, usually in the downtown area of a city. These may include office blocks, Shopping Mall s, Train and Metro Station s, Theatre s, and other attractions. An underground city can usually be accessed through the public space of any of the buildings connecting to it, and sometimes has separate entries as well.
Underground cities are especially important in cities with cold climates, as they permit the downtown core to be enjoyed year round without regard to the weather.
Underground cities are similar in nature to Skyway systems and may include some buildings linked by skyways or above-ground corridors rather than underground.
The most famous underground city in the world is notably Montreal 's, used by more people than any other locale.
Countries with underground cities include:
- Moscow Metro is the most beautiful underground in the world. Build during soviet era it is the fastest way to travel through the modern Moscow. Moscow's metro has a lot of tunnels which are hidden to public, some of which are used as a train depot, some lead to outside of the city bunkers and camps. But not only metro is beneath Moscow:
Manejnaja ploshad is propably the first underground shopping mall build in Moscow.
Timiryazevskaya Academy (Тимиря́зевская) has a number of tunels.
There is also a group of young people which calls itself "diggers". Moscow has a great number of underground canals, tunnels and rivers.
Kremlin is the heart of Moscow and parliament, so it is widely believed that there are tunnels which go from kremlin to other russian cities in case government officials will need to escape. But no evidence exists to support this.
During both world wars there were a great number of underground tunnels build in Russia, Ukrane and Belarus. One of the most famous is "Odessa's kotokombs".
There are still udnescovered ancient and relatively modern underground tunnels. The reason being is that every tunnel has some kind of protection, for example in Odessa's kotokombs there is a huge number of "wolf holes" in the ground, they can be 10 meters deep and they have sords at the bottom so if someone falls they usually die. And it is very easy to get lost in most of them. However some of the tunnels are open to public.
- Sydney has a series of underground shopping malls around one of the city's underground stations Town Hall . The tunnels run south to the George Street cinema district, west under the town hall, and north to Pitt Street Mall through the Queen Victoria Building . The northern branch links Queen Victoria Building with Galleries Victoria, Sydney Central Plaza (which in turn links internally above ground to Westfield Centrepoint, Imperial Arcade, Skygarden, Glasshouse, and the MLC Centre). The linked centres run for over 3km. In 2005 Westfield corporation submitted a development application to link Sydney Central Plaza underground with 3 other properties on Pitt Street Mall and extend the tunnel network by a further 500m.
- Edmonton has a small system of tunnels and above-ground skyways called the Pedway connecting buildings and LRT stations of the downtown core.
- Montreal ('' Underground City '' or ''la Ville souterraine'' in French) whose 32 kilometres of tunnels connect seven downtown Metro stations, seven large hotels and many important office towers and malls on 41 city blocks (12 square kilometres). It is the largest underground city in the World and was built because of the cold winters.
- --- Montreal has several smaller tunnel systems in other parts of the city linking other attractions to metro stations.
- ---About 2,000 shops and 40 cinemas line the passageways. Montreal is famous for its underground city and it is often visited by tourists, as well as by 500,000 Montrealers per day.
- Toronto ('' PATH ''), comprises 27 kilometres of walkways and 1,200 shops. It links many important buildings and attractions downtown to five TTC subway stations. The PATH accommodates 100,000 pedestrians daily, and PATH businesses host the world's largest underground sidewalk sale once annually.
- --- Toronto also has a separate, smaller "underground city" connecting several building complexes and two subway stations on Bloor Street .
- Vancouver has a Shopping Mall called Pacific Centre that extends almost 3 city blocks and contains more than 200 stores that weaves above and below ground level.
- Taipei - underground streets connecting two or more metro stations.
- Hong Kong - Some MTR (metro) and KCR (metro / suburban train) stations in Hong Kong form underground networks with buildings and shopping malls in the neighbouring areas. The stations themselves house a number of retail shops. Notable examples are the MTR Central - Hong Kong stations, and the MTR Tsim Sha Tsui - KCR East Rail East Tsim Sha Tsui stations.
- Kish - An underground city by the name of Hidden Pearl was constructed which consists of roads interlinked 20 meters under the ground. Shops and restaurants are planned to be built.
The top five largest underground "cities" (''chikagai'') in Japan are all shopping malls:
- Crysta Nagahori in Chuo-ku, Osaka — 81,765 m&2
- Yaesu Chikagai in Chuo-ku, Tokyo — 73,253 m&2
- Kawasaki Azalea in Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki — 56,704 m&2
- Central Park Chikagai in Naka-ku, Nagoya — 56,370 m&2
- Diamor Osaka in Kita-ku, Osaka — 42,977 m&2
- Osaka has enormous underground networks in the Umeda , Namba , and Shinsaibashi districts, which include retail shopping, restaurants, and subway and intercity rail stations.
- Tokyo 's subway lines are owned by Eidan (9 lines) and Toei (4 lines), mostly within the 23 Special Wards . Near the center of the city, connecting passages between stations that span a few blocks exist for commuters. Stations such as Shinjuku and Shibuya have underground shopping malls. Unlike Montreal's Ville Souterraine, Tokyo's network of tunnels is not seen as a tourist attraction; rather it is seen as one of the many Megalopolis features of the city.
- Extensive underground networks exists around Most Major Stations of the Mass Rapid Transit , such as the one at the Raffles Place MRT Station with direct underground connections to 19 buildings in the busy Raffles Place area. Expanding the network further, is the first phase of a new subterranean network linking the station to the up-coming One Raffles Quay development and with provisions to extend it into the Marina Bay new downtown extension for a complex underground pedestrain nework across the entire downtown area.
- The {Link without Title} . Plans are in place to link all buildings along the road into a continuous underground network on both sides of the over four kilometre long road.
- In Barcelona , some Metro stations or connecting lines in the same station are connected by underground passages over a block in length.
- Cappadocia contains several historical underground cities, carved out of unusual geological formations, largely used by early Christian s as hiding places. They are now archeological and tourist sites, but are not generally occupied.
- In London's redeveloped docklands Canary Wharf Tube Station , adjacent office towers and shopping malls are connected underground. It is also possible to access two stations of the Docklands Light Railway without going outside.
- Dover contains a series of interconnecting tunnels, that honeycomb both sides of the Dover Valley, carved into the chalk cliffs. These date from Ancient times at Dover Castle through to Napoleonic, Second and Cold War installations. The Dover Castle complex is the larger, going at least six levels deep and includes a hostpital, troops quarters, offices and storage and channel view points. The southern tunnels are mixed between Napoleonic defences ( see Dover Western Heights ) and WW2 defences, with some seafront Air raid tunnels still used for shop storage today. Many are now falling into disrepair and are blocked off/neglected but plenty are accessable : See this or this.
- There is an extensive Underground Edinburgh which includes a number of rooms and chambers that has become a tourist attraction. click here . see the link for a list of venues that allow you to visit these vaults that are part of Edinburgh's 18th century South Bridge
- Atlanta, Georgia - Atlanta’s “Underground” actually represents the original surface level of downtown Atlanta; the present streets are in fact raised roadways ( Viaduct s) built in the 1920s. The shopping center Underground Atlanta , taking advantage of the former street-level storefronts, covers six city blocks, and includes retail shopping and restaurants. It was begun in 1968 , and re-opened in 1989 after a financially-forced closure. Underground Atlanta homepage
- Chicago, Illinois - (''Pedway'') consists of approximately 4 disjoint tunnel systems, the largest covering about 10 blocks, connecting such buildings and transit stations as Metra 's Randolph Street Station, the Chicago Cultural Center, Marshall Field's flagship store at State and Randolph, Chicago Transit Authority 's State Street and Dearborn Street subway stations, City Hall, and the State of Illinois (James R Thompson) Center. Pedway Map
- Havre, Montana - Throughout its history, the Havre Underground has been host to a brothel, a Chinese laundromat, a saloon, a drugstore, at least three Opium Dens , and rooms used for smuggling alcohol during Prohibition . It is now a preserved piece of the region's history.
- Dallas, Texas has a network of tunnels connecting various buildings in the downtown area.
- , offers direct access from the street to the Tunnel; otherwise, you must enter the Tunnel from street-level stairs, escalators, or elevators located inside a building connected to the Tunnel.
- campus, the Gopher Way connects most buildings and parking structures together using a number of skyway links and underground tunnels.
- Duluth, Minnesota has a small network of skyways and tunnels connecting some buildings, including the Federal Courthouse and Convention Center (DECC).
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - There are two connected underground concourses around Suburban Station and Market East Station in Center City , both of which host a number of businesses, and are connected to SEPTA transit lines.
- Rochester, Minnesota - The Mayo Clinic 's various buildings in the downtown area are interconnected with tunnels and skyways. Various other businesses also exist along the corridors, including a number of Hotel s that often house clinic patients. It is often called a subway, although there are no underground rails in the city.
- Seattle , Washington - Several modern undergrounds and a historical tour exist. The main shopping district around Westlake has an underground connected with the bus tunnel. Another substantial corridor extends from Two Union Square to Rainier Square with connections to hotels, the 5th Avenue Theatre, and many retail shops along the way. The Seattle Underground Tour in Pioneer Square takes visitors on a humorous guided walk showing the original ground level of many buildings in that area.
- to the major buildings on campus.
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma The Metro Conncourse, named after its founder, Jack Conn, is an underground tunnel system connecting nearly all the downtown buildings in a 20-square-block area. The Conncourse is one of the most extensive all-enclosed pedestrian systems in the country, extending three-quarters of a mile and connecting over 30 downtown buildings by tunnel or skyway. The original tunnel link was built in 1931 and the system was extended in the 1970s. Offices, shops, and restaurants line the Conncourse system. It is scheduled to undergo a $2 million renovation in 2006. Upon completion of the renovation, the plan calls for the Conncourse to be renamed the Underground.
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