NYC's the future Venice - 19th June 2023

New York City's sinking due to the weight of its many skyscrapers. New geological research, using satellite data, found the metropolis is slowly collapsing into the ocean.

According to the study published in Advancing Earth and Space Science, America's largest city's sinking at a rate of one to two millimetres per year, caused by shifting soil. Usually, the phenomenon's a result of mineral or oil extraction, especially fracking, but for the Big Apple, the weight of its monumental buildings is at fault, an occurrence called settlement.

NYC's been the US's most populous city for over 200 years. Following rapid expansion in the late 19th century, city planners decided to build up instead of out. In 1889, the first skyscraper in Manhattan was built and named the Tower Building. Over 6,000 high-rise structures have been constructed since then, including 274 skyscrapers, each towering over 150 metres in height, collectively weighing a staggering 764 billion kilograms.

Researchers found another contributing factor: soil composition. Much of New York City's constructed on clay rich soil and artificial fill, substances the scientists found "especially prone to significant building settlement". Clay showed the largest potential shifting soil, ranging from minus 75 to minus 600 millimetres.

Currently, NYC's approximately 8.4 million residents are at risk of flooding and future natural disasters. The few millimetres of shifting soil may not appear serious, but some boroughs are experiencing even faster rates, depending on the weight of their buildings and soil composition. Combined with global rising sea levels, the city that never sleeps could eventually look more like Venice in Italy.

NYC isn't the only urban landscape affected by shifting soil and settlement. With the forecast that 70 percent of the world's population will be living in cities by 2050 we should be looking more carefully at where and how we build cities.