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    Almost all of the following architectural and urban history publications are peer-reviewed.
    They are republished in full on my website, so as to guarantee public access by people outside academia. Contact me.

Category: Urban History

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Book Project: Plundering the City

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My future book project titled “Plundering the City” examines how capital and new technologies eroded the quality, density, and variety of small businesses, craft industries, neighborhood institutions, and community groups in what is now the inner-city of Newark, New Jersey. Taking one city as the prism to examine larger urban crises in American culture, this project highlights the spatial and social causes of urban poverty and impoverished social relations in American urban life. Rebuilding social infrastructure requires systemic change and seizing a new means of production.

Visit: NewarkChanging.org/map VIEW PROJECT >

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Time-Lapse Evolution of Istanbul’s Urban Form: 330 AD to Present

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This film project utilizes historical cartography and GIS to create a time-lapse animation of Istanbul’s urban development over millennia. It illustrates three significant periods: Byzantine rule (330AD-1453), Ottoman rule (1453-1923), and modern metropolitan growth (1923-present). The animation visualizes changing coastlines and showcases the evolution of 200 archaeological sites, churches, aqueduct routes, and early Roman roads. Viewers can explore the film with the accompanying soundtrack or pause the map and zoom into a high-resolution map of individual places. VIEW PROJECT >

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Envisioning Seneca Village

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This collaborative project by Gergely Baics, Meredith Linn, Leah Meisterlin, and Myles Zhang. The project showcases a historically-accurate and archaeologically-informed 3D model of the historic African American community of Seneca Village, which was demolished in 1857 to build Central Park. The project combines digital reconstruction with extensive research, as public-facing tools to commemorate the village’s history and legacy. The project was recognized with multiple awards, widespread use in classrooms, and publicity by the Central Park Conservancy.

Visit: EnvisioningSenecaVillage.github.io VIEW PROJECT >

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Homeownership and the Racial Wealth Gap

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In March 2024, I presented at the Newark Public Library, as part of the Newark History Society’s monthly circuit of public lectures. My two-hour presentation discussed the deep historical roots between Newark’s poverty and the wealth of affluent neighboring suburbs. Beyond simple narratives of redlining and race, the presentation explored the complex economic, political, and policy factors behind Newark’s decline. The research conducted in preparation for this presentation evolved into what is now my book project titled Plundering the City.

View recording of conference presentation. VIEW PROJECT >

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Jersey City: Urban Planning in Historical Perspective

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This project was commissioned by the Jersey City Public Library to be used as an educational tool about the history of land use law and city planning, from 1900 to today. The project overlays citywide maps of every building in 1873, 1919, and today – to reveal changing land use patterns. The project also includes a PDF booklet about Jersey City’s six master plans, each of which captures the spirit of the city and the governing philosophies of city planners at the time. These documents reveal the city’s evolution in response to urban challenges and broader themes in U.S. urban history. VIEW PROJECT >

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Newark Changing in Maps: 1889, 1927, 1930

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This project overlays historical city-wide fire insurance and tax maps above the contemporary geography to reveal change over time. Detailed maps of building footprints from 1889, 1927, and 1930 reveal different patterns of land use, community life, and walkable streets. Find your building, your workplace, or any site in Newark – and identify who lived there a century ago with the unique tool of this interactive map. VIEW PROJECT >

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The City as Carceral State

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This personal essay reflects on my experiences growing up in Newark, NJ, and witnessing the city’s stark socioeconomic divides. These experiences inspired my current studies of architecture and urban planning, with a particular focus on systemic inequality in the built environment. I hope to make scholarship accessible, to address historical injustices through genuine community engagement and historical research. VIEW PROJECT >

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Goodbye Baxter Terrace

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This essay was written by my father Zemin Zhang on December 2, 2007.

Baxter Terrace was one of Newark, NJ’s very first public housing projects. Opened 1941, the project initially reflected a faith in social security, economic opportunity, and social mobility for working-class and black Americans. Over time, as public investment faded, the project declined and was later demolished in 2009. The loss of this building reflects the shattered dreams of social reformers and an entire generation of black Americans denied the right to a home. VIEW PROJECT >

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The Paterson Silk Strike in Historical Perspective

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1913 to 2023 A century later, the mills of Paterson sitting abandoned, their machines silent Image source: LoC, HABS,link to left image and right image Exactly 110 years ago today – on July 28, 1913 – Paterson silk mill workers voted to end their strike. Their strike had failed. But what has changed (or not) since then frames their historical struggle in the context of ongoing labor battles. The strikers’ motivations are as relevant in 2023 as they were in 1913: the fight for a living wage, for an eight-hour day, and – ultimately – for the right to work… VIEW PROJECT >

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Time-lapse Animation of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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Based on court transcripts, eye witness testimonies, primary sources, and historical maps, this animation reconstructs the workplace conditions and abuses that caused the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This fire on 25 March 1911, killed 146 garment workers and represents a turning-point moment in the history of organized labor in America. This project is the first – and only – accurate-to-the-inch virtual reality model of the entire factory floor. VIEW PROJECT >

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Time-lapse History of the United States

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This animation maps 272,000 data points over 230 years of U.S. census data from 1790 to 2020. The film uses racial dot maps and maps of population density over time to illustrate America’s urbanization, industrialization, and conquest of the frontier. Each dot represents 10,000 people, with major cities highlighted. Philip Glass’s accompanying music prompts reflections immigration, land use, and transportation technology’s influence on settlement patterns. VIEW PROJECT >

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Newark Changing: Mapping neighborhood demolition, 1950s to today

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Newark Changing is an interactive visual encyclopedia featuring 2,400 photo comparisons from 1959-68 vs. today. The project illustrates the combined impacts of urban renewal, slum clearance, highway construction, and decades of demolition by neglect. Through a historic map, users can explore dozens of neighborhoods and thousands of demolished homes. This research highlights the devastation faced by communities due to decades of anti-urban policy decisions by the government and anti-black investment decisions by corporations.

Visit: NewarkChanging.org/map VIEW PROJECT >

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The Time Columbia Built an Artificial Moon in Low Library

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The best definition of a university is, to my mind, a city from which the universe can be surveyed. It is the universe compressed into a city the size of Morningside Heights. Low Library, built in the 1890s at Columbia University, symbolizes the ambition to encompass knowledge in a single space, merging classical aesthetics with technological advancements. While the library served as a center of learning, its eventual obsolescence and partial abandonment reflects Columbia’s own evolution as an institution now more embracing of different viewpoints.

Read essay published in Columbia College today alumni magazine. VIEW PROJECT >

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Racializing Space

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Drawing from the perspectives of architecture, planning, sociology, and history, this panel discussion at the University of Michigan’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning considers the evidence for how and why the American city and suburb – specifically Detroit – remain spatially segregated. What steps must be taken to fulfill the dream of an egalitarian metropolis? Panelists included:
Sociologist Karyn Lacy
American historian LaDale Winling,
Urban planning historian Robert Fishman
Conversation moderated by Myles Zhang. VIEW PROJECT >

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A Different Kind of Radiant City: Bucharest

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This research compares architect Le Corbusier’s 1920s imaginary Plan Voisin to demolish most of Paris and communist dictator Ceaușescu’s 1980s plans to demolish most of Bucharest, Romania. The unexpected comparison reveals a complex relationship between French utopian and Communist totalitarian visions. Both urban forms reflect deep ideological ambitions, showing how arrogant dreams of modernity displace existing cultures. Ultimately, the comparison illustrates how the urban form reflects the beliefs and prejudices of those tasked with designing the city. VIEW PROJECT >

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The Geography of Racial Segregation in 1940s Detroit

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This interactive story map created in ArcGIS visualizes the geography of racial segregation, income inequality, and disparities in homeownership in 1940s Detroit. The origins of Detroit’s contemporary urban crisis originate in specific design, policy, and urban planning decisions made almost a century ago. VIEW PROJECT >

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“The State is Responsible”

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The article examines racial segregation in Royal Oak Charter Township and Detroit Public Schools, exploring how race-based policies have historically influenced public education quality. It highlights how the 1974 Supreme Court case Milliken v. Bradley contributed to growing racial segregation and class inequality between black and white communities in Detroit. VIEW PROJECT >

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Lorch Column at the University of Michigan

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Essay published in Taubman College Magazine: The Lorch Column, a significant architectural salvage from the demolished Mutual Benefit Life Insurance building in Newark, NJ, symbolizes the intersection of history and capitalism. Originally designed to represent strength and wealth, its migration from Newark to Taubman College the University of Michigan reflects the cyclical nature of architectural life and death, capitalism and creation. VIEW PROJECT >

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Branch Brook Park Interactive History Map

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This is the official history map and guide for visitors to Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. This 360-acre park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr in the 1890s and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Navigate this interactive map to learn about park amenities, recreational spaces, historic sites, transit connections, points of interest like the cherry blossoms, and vanished landscape features from Olmsted’s original plans. Map annotations are paired with explanatory texts and comparative photos of past and present.

View map on the website of Branch Brook Park Alliance. VIEW PROJECT >

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The Privatization of Public Space in Lower Manhattan

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The decline of public spaces in Lower Manhattan is a pressing issue, threatening democracy and the sense of civic identity. While approximately 60% of Lower Manhattan’s ground area is technically dedicated to public use, only 25% remains truly accessible to pedestrians. Factors like cars, corporations, and surveillance have restricted urban life. Continued privatization erodes the quality and frequency of community interactions that are essential for democratic engagement and tolerance. VIEW PROJECT >

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Street Grid Development vs. Population Density

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This animation illustrates Manhattan’s urban development from 1801 to 2011, highlighting changes in street grid and population density. While Manhattan peaked at over 2.3 million residents in 1900, it had only 1.6 million in 2020. Improved public transportation after 1900 empowered hundreds of thousands of people to relocate from Manhattan to outer boroughs and suburbs that had more room and better quality housing supply. Manhattan today appears more visually dense and ever more populated with skyscrapers. But, ironically, about 40 percent fewer people live in Manahttan today than a century ago. Fewer people are living in larger apartments. This produces a net decline in population, even while there is a continuous growth in building sizes and heights. VIEW PROJECT >

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The Detroit Evolution Animation

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Old maps were layered and animated to reveal the scale of Detroit’s transformation from French colonial trading post, to 19th-century boom, to 20th-century decline. Cartography highlights how political policies, technological changes, and the Great Migration accelerated racial segregation and the decline of mass transit. Detroit reflects broader trends seen in American cities. Project developed with historian Robert Fishman for an exhibit and lecture, funded by Egalitarian Metropolis grant from Mellon Foundation. VIEW PROJECT >

A Drop of Water

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This essay is a brief history and analysis of Newark’s water supply system, based on my experience of walking along the aqueduct from forest origins to urban destination. The journey of Newark’s water supply illustrates the connection between diverse communities in New Jersey, highlighting how the rural, suburban, and urban areas are interlinked. Despite their physical separation, the health and well-being of Newark residents depend on clean water sourced from distant, often affluent regions, revealing societal inequalities in access and environmental safety. VIEW PROJECT >

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Homesteads to Homelots in the Garden State

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Analysis of US census data reveals spatial trends in New Jersey’s suburban sprawl from the 1920s to 2020s. NJ’s landscape evolved from an urban state in the 1920s to what is now a suburban state with diminished civic realm. This analysis uses data to explore municipal fragmentation, population density shifts, and enduring economic challenges. The state’s unique political geography causes persistently high property taxes and spatial inequality. NJ’s story reveals mirrors larger spatial patterns in American urban history. VIEW PROJECT >

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Book Review of “Saving America’s Cities”

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A review of Lizabeth Cohen’s book

“Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age.” (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. 547 pp.)

Winner of the Bancroft Prize in 2020 for the quality of her historical writing VIEW PROJECT >

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The time-lapse history of Manhattan in two minutes

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This two-minute time-lapse film illustrates the 400-year transformation of Lower Manhattan from a Dutch village to a modern metropolis, highlighting the impact of new technologies on evolving methods of urban representation. The film draws from seventeenth-century drawings to modern photography, showcasing how each generation perceived and depicted through art the city’s growth and the changing world around them. VIEW PROJECT >

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The Berlin Evolution Animation

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Abstract: The Berlin Evolution Animation visualizes the development of this city’s street network and infrastructure from 1415 to the present-day, using an overlay of historic maps. The resulting short film presents a series of 17 “cartographic snapshots” of the urban area at intervals of every 30-40 years. This process highlights Berlin’s urban development over 600 years, the rapid explosion of industry and population in the nineteenth-century, followed by the destruction and violence of two world wars and then the Cold War on Berlin’s urban fabric. VIEW PROJECT >

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New York City Water Supply: animated history

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This film uses time-lapse cartography from the 19th-century to the present to highlight the city’s ongoing struggle for clean water amidst growing urban challenges. New York City supplies unfiltered drinking water to nine million people, sourcing it from 2,000 square miles in Upstate New York through extensive aqueducts. This vital infrastructure, while integral to the city, remains largely unnoticed and buried just beneath our feet. VIEW PROJECT >

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California Waterscape: time-lapse history of water supply

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This time-lapse film visualizes the evolution of this state’s water delivery infrastructure from 1913 to 2019 through geo-referenced data on aqueducts, reservoir capacities, and land use. The animated film showcases population growth, urbanization, and agricultural demands, presenting cartographic snapshots that reflect the state’s increasing water needs over the decades. VIEW PROJECT >

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Here Grows New York City

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Here Grows New York is an American urban planning film directed by Myles Zhang and advised by urban historians Kenneth T. Jackson and Gergely Baics. The data visualization uses time-lapse cartography to follow the history of New York City’s infrastructure and street system development from 1609 to the present day. The video quickly went viral, gaining over five million views. The film is used in dozens of architecture and urban planning classes about the history of the urban form. VIEW PROJECT >