[icebraining]

If we're going to use arbitrary points in time, at its peak Ancient Rome had over 1M inhabitants, and Chang'an had almost 2M, all before the IX century.

A more apt comparison might be London right before the car became common place, though.

[sergiosgc]

The moment in time you pick for London does not change the picture. Victorian London still didn't have a million souls.

Rome's 1M population is a disputed number. Cities of tens of million inhabitants are all post-industrial and none work solely on mass transit. The car is an essential piece of the equation.

Car-less cities are an interesting thought experiment, but none has gone past the implementation barrier. That part of the equation should go into the though experiment.

[icebraining]

> Victorian London still didn't have a million souls.

Can you provide a link? I'm either confused about what "Victorian" or "London" mean, because it seems to me that metro London definitely had over 1M people in the late 19th century.

[tonyedgecombe]

Pre-war London had a population of 8 million and cars were strictly for the wealthy.