Could a megacity have thrived in a hot humid climate before air conditioning?

[uaarkson]

Tokyo is pretty hot and humid.

[Yuri]

New York too.

[Crawford]

I wouldn't call Tokyo or NY hot and humid. How many weeks consistently have that sort of weather? Maybe two or three? Granted, with climate change, this may change.

I lived for years in NY with no AC, no issues. Now I have it, but it certainly isn't needed.

I had no AC when I moved to college (upstate NY), thru grad school (Mass) and for about 10 years as a professional in NYC. Never even thought about getting it. Didn't get it until I bought my first place, which had central air.

[muppet]

Angkor, Cambodia reached 900,000 in the 1200s and Ayutthaya, Thailand 1 million in 1700, both the biggest cities in the world at the time.

For southern, monsoonal India Vijayanagar hit 500,000 - 1million in 1500.

I'm tempted to mention Pataliputra, which hit half a million in 500AD and possibly 200BC (as one of the cities that may or may not have hit 1 million first, vying with Rome and Alexandria dependant on the historians). However it's in northern India, but still very wet (same latitude as Bangladesh).

The original post has a point though -not so much humidity, but the fact jungles support less available protein than deserts and any farmed soil goes fallow after a decade. Also far less pack animals, if at all (the MesoAmericans in present day Latin America did have wheels, but nothing to pull them). However with vast water management (such as floating farms, canal networks and huge reservoirs) you could bring the rainforest to heel and create cities against all odds, from the Aztec, Maya and Amazonian to the Khmers, Thais and Burmese in SE Asia. Then the Hindu empires in southern India -all of these operated large cities, including many that were the world's largest at the time.

[JManc]

New York City/ State can get pretty humid but doesn't get too particularly hot for very long. Two or three weeks like Crawford mentioned. I grew up without AC up there (house and car) but couldn't go back and not have it.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I wouldn't call Tokyo or NY hot and humid. How many weeks consistently have that sort of weather? Maybe two or three? Granted, with climate change, this may change.

I lived for years in NY with no AC, no issues. Now I have it, but it certainly isn't needed.

I had no AC when I moved to college (upstate NY), thru grad school (Mass) and for about 10 years as a professional in NYC. Never even thought about getting it. Didn't get it until I bought my first place, which had central air.

NYC is pretty unbearable in July and August without AC. It feels like more than a "few weeks" when your walls are sweating and your mattress is soaked. Even with a room air conditioner, it doesn't do a good job of removing the humidity...it just blows cold air.

Upstate NY, yeah...totally different story. I went to Cornell. You don't need central air at all in the Finger Lakes. Maybe a week or two at most but even then totally manageable.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

NYC is pretty unbearable in July and August without AC. It feels like more than a "few weeks" when your walls are sweating and your mattress is soaked. Even with a room air conditioner, it doesn't do a good job of removing the humidity...it just blows cold air.

Yeah, New York is more like 6 weeks of the really hot and humid weather. That weather usually goes through all of July and roughly 2 - 3 weeks of August.

I've lived in NYC without a/c before and it's not comfortable. But the city is colder for much longer here than it is hot and dry, thus many of our buildings are designed to trap heat instead of being built to stay cool.

[Yuri]

I imagine the very hot season in NYC is shorter, however it’s definitely hotter than many places perceived as “tropical” or “hot”. If people manage NY summers, they definitely will manage milder albeit longer summers elsewhere.