The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the London Tube Map | Great Maps Explained

The London Underground Tube map is one of the most recognizable and oft-used maps in the modern world. Its history is a fascinating study in the way that modern technology has required a complete rethinking of the world around us and how we think of it; cities are now places studded with 'portals' rather than sets of streets and buildings. Yet the Tube map is also stretching the bounds of reason in its current designs today, and there is no clear solution in sight. In this video, we'll tackle the history of the London Underground Tube map, its design process and usefulness, and where things stand today for modern users of metro systems around the world.

Although the history of London Tube maps goes back much farther than the 1930s, we regard the creation of Harry Beck's 1933 London Underground map as the first iteration of the design we still use today (and the design almost all cities use). The lines are bold, the design is clear, and the whole thing looks a lot more like an electrical schematic rather than a typical cartographic map. Yet it's remarkably useful and readable for the purposes of navigating a metro transportation system.

By understanding where we've come from and the problems we face with our growing cities and systems today, maybe we can figure out some better designs for the future. It seems impossible now, but, it must have seemed impossible a hundred years ago too -- so maybe there is still hope for us. I hope you enjoy the video.

My goal with this series is to explore the amazing maps that humanity has created over the span of human history, and to use these as ways to connect with our ancestors. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me, and please let me know if you like this format and if you want to see more videos.

A huge thanks to everyone that helped to contribute to this video and whose works are featured here, including:

Images and Art
London Underground archives and modern maps
https://www.tube-history.uk/tube-maps...
  / ocunofficial_london_tube_map_20222023_rede...  

Audio
Around The Globe by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
   • British Music Invasion Of The 1920s &...  

Research
   • The genius of the London Tube Map | M...  
https://nameplatesdiv.com/history-of-...
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25474563
   • The Tube Map nearly looked very diffe...  
https://londonist.com/2016/05/the-his...
https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collection...
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_map and more)

A nod to Great Art Explained (   / @greatartexplained  ) for helping me come up with the idea for this series.

And of course, thanks to all the many hands along the course of history that created and shared such works, so we can all learn more from the past.

Love,
Victor

----

All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

00:00 - 00:52 The Famous London Tube Map
00:53 - 01:47 The Complexity of this Usable Map
01:48 - 02:50 Very Early Tube Maps
02:51 - 04:33 First Comprehensive Tube Maps
04:34 - 06:30 Removing London from the Map
06:30 - 09:55 Harry Beck's 1933 Tube Map
09:56 - 10:41 Beck Just Can't Stop Working on the Map
10:42 - 12:42 The Changing Needs of London's Design
12:43 - 14:26 The Map Gets Confusing
14:27 - 18:00 How Can We Navigate Today's Cities?
18:00 - 18:53 Conclusion

#london #map #history #design #tube