5 Cities With Massive Underground Complexes

A significant number of the world’s largest urban areas rely on underground transportation networks to enable their populations to get around quickly and safely. That is the case in New York City, Paris, London, and Singapore, among many other cities. Yet in other places, beneath city streets are underground complexes packed with shops and services. Born out of necessity in places where the weather is extreme, where real estate is pricey enough above ground to make it an attractive commercial proposition, or in response to perceived threats to national security, the following five fascinating underground complexes in major cities are worthy of closer inspection. 

RÉSO – Montréal, Canada

Also known as the Underground City or La ville souterraine, RÉSO is Montréal’s sprawling subterranean business district. Guinness World Records officially recognizes it as the world’s largest pedestrian subway network. Built partly as an answer to the city’s extreme weather — hot in summer and cold in winter — RÉSO comprises almost 20 miles of linked underground transit, offices, shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas, and residential blocks. 

From a visitor perspective, this interconnected space is a tourist attraction in its own right. The complex connects to street-level facilities such as the Bell Centre hockey arena and a skybridge, making this as much an indoor city as an underground one. 

Subterranean Helsinki – Helsinki, Finland

Finland shares a long border with Russia, so it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that its capital, Helsinki, built a series of tunnels and bunkers in the 1960s when Cold War insecurities were at their peak. Fast-forward to the present day, and you’ll find an unusually diverse array of amenities in those underground spaces. 

One of the most interesting attractions is Temppeliaukio Church, a Lutheran place of worship carved right out of the rock. Also worth checking out are the underground galleries of Amos Rex, a contemporary art museum. But there’s a serious side to this part of Helsinki, too. While the cavernous Itakeskus Swimming Hall boasts four underground pools, a spa, a solarium, and a Turkish bath, it’s one of many spaces underneath the city that can be converted into a capacious bunker should the need arise. 

PATH – Toronto, Canada

PATH is the name given to the network of pedestrian walkways that links many of downtown Toronto’s businesses, including shops, restaurants, entertainment, and transportation links. Its history dates to 1900, when retailer T. Eaton Company dug a tunnel to connect its store on Yonge Street to its bargain annex. 

The PATH has been vastly expanded since then, especially since the 1970s. Its stats are impressive: Via more than 18 miles of walkways, it comprises 3.7 million square feet of retail space, 1,200 restaurants, nine hotels, six subway stations, and access to attractions such as the Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, and Union Station. The PATH is particularly popular in winter, offering a climate-controlled alternative to the freezing streets above. 

Tenjin Chikagai – Fukuoka, Japan 

Tenjin Chikagai is the largest subterranean shopping center on the island of Kyushu in Japan. You’ll find it at the heart of downtown Fukuoka, beneath the Tenjin neighborhood, which is known for its abundance of retailers. The complex opened in 1976 and boasts a dozen avenues lined with approximately 150 shops and service providers. 

The complex is linked by underground passageways to a number of city transit hubs, including the subway with connections to Hakata Station and Fukuoka Airport, as well as direct access to the Nishtietsu Tenjin Expressway Bus Terminal. However, the design of Tenjin Chikagai doesn’t feel especially Japanese — instead, there are nods to European heritage in its cobblestone floors and to the Middle East and North Africa via its Arabesque-style ceilings. 

SubTropolis – Kansas City, Missouri 

Hunt Midwest, the company that owns SubTropolis in Kansas City, proudly states that it is the world’s largest underground business complex. Housed a hundred feet below the surface in a former limestone mine, it has a capacity of more than 9 million square feet, yet is just a 10-minute drive to downtown Kansas City. 

The backstory of SubTropolis provides a salutary lesson in adaptability. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, limestone was excavated here in large quantities, fueled by Kansas City’s construction boom. As demand tailed off, all that usable space was going to waste. Leasing it to businesses for storage seemed the obvious answer. 

The naturally climate-controlled space reopened in its new guise in the 1960s. Ford and the U.S. Postal Service are among the companies that have benefited from the space, which is also home to the original reels of movies like Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, since its stable temperature (around 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit) makes it suitable for preserving delicate artifacts.