Take London, for example. In 1800, it had an estimated population of 800,000. Sixty years later, well within the lifetime of a single individual, it had grown to almost 3 million. And during the succeeding forty years, it grew to 4.5 million (Fulford, 1952). New York City in the 1840s (remember, industrialization came later to the United States than it did to England) contained 400,000 souls (Toll, 1969). By the turn of the century, again a leap of merely sixty years, it had 3.5 million (Fulford, 1952). In cities where the initial population base was smaller, growth may have, from a phenomenological perspective, had an even greater impact. In 1780, the population of Manchester was a mere 25,000. Within forty years it had doubled, and then doubled again; that is, by 1820 it had reached 100,000 (Comhaire and Cahnman, 1962). Boston's population in 1830 is estimated slightly in excess of 60,000. Thirty-five years later, and prior to the annexation of surrounding communities, it had reached almost 200,000 (Lane, 1967).

XREF: Connects to historical urbanization studies and the phenomenology of rapid environmental change.

Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order a…, loc. 315