What is the history of Montreals Underground City?
After Montreal’s population surpassed one million in the early 1950s, Mayor Jean Drapeau laid down plans for the future development of the city. These plans included a new metro system and an underground city. The underground “city” is a part of downtown, it’s not really a city more like a district. Some may have an image of all montrealers living underground during winters but the underground city is mostly tunnels and walkways connecting downtown shopping malls, metro stations, office buildings and even some hotels. It’s a great place to visit if you love to shop and walk or if it’s a rainy day. Montreal’s Underground City (French: La ville souterraine) is also known as the indoor city (ville intérieure) as not all of it is underground. In 2004 the underground city was rebranded and given the name RÉSO. The rebranding effort was managed by Bélanger Branding et Design. The name RÉSO is based on the French word réseau, or network (as in a network of tunnels).
