On July 24, 2024, Gergely Baics, an Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies and the Helman Faculty Chair of Urban Studies, co-authored a new article in Annals of the American Association of Geographers, titled “Population Density in Nineteenth-Century American Urbanism.” His co-authors are Celia Arsen ‘20, a Barnard alumna who now works as a Senior Data Analytics Developer at Mathematica, and Leah Meisterlin, an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.
In this paper, the researchers explain that although population density and size are today’s most commonly used metrics for defining modern cities and urbanism, density has been widely overlooked when analyzing the historical development of the U.S. urban system. To address this gap, Baics, and his colleagues deployed large-scale geocoded census microdata on forty major US cities in 1880, using a block-level, population-weighted density measure. The researchers then used this measure to compare density across cities and population subgroups, while outlining regionally distinct patterns.
Professor Baics and his colleagues’ findings identify the built environment as a contributing factor to high- versus low-density urban development and indicate that immigrants, racial minorities, and lower-class residents experienced higher densities at a time when high-density increased exposure to health risks. The authors conclude the need for further research on density conditions in particular cities, places, and demographic subgroups.