Watch Strip the City

Strip the City is a fascinating television series that first aired on the Science Channel in 2012. The show revolves around the idea of peeling back the layers of some of the most iconic cities in the world to reveal their infrastructure and how it works. The basic concept of the show is to take viewers on an informative and engaging journey through some of the most complex and remarkable urban landscapes on the planet.

The presenters of Strip the City are Kavan Smith, Thom Kikot, and Nick Eyles, and they are joined by a team of experts from various fields such as geology, engineering, and urban planning. Each episode focuses on a single city, and the experts outline the city's unique geology and history, then explain how the city's infrastructure is designed to overcome the various challenges that come with the terrain.

The show makes use of computer-generated graphics to strip away the buildings, roads, and other man-made structures in each city, revealing the underlying terrain and geological structures. The presenters use this information to show how the city is engineered to deal with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides. They demonstrate how the city's infrastructure, from its drainage systems to its buildings, is designed to withstand these forces of nature.

In the first episode, the show takes viewers on a journey through San Francisco, a city that is known for its hilly terrain and being a hotbed of seismic activity. The experts explain how San Francisco's unique geology has created a plethora of challenges for its engineers and builders, and how they have overcome these challenges to create one of the most earthquake-safe cities in the world.

In other episodes of Strip the City, the show takes us through the underground network of New York City, shows us the innovative engineering used to build the world's tallest skyscrapers in Dubai, and delves into the complex canal system in Venice, Italy. The show also uses state-of-the-art technology to help explain the engineering and geological concepts, such as 3D animations and interactive maps, making it accessible for viewers of varying levels of expertise.

One interesting aspect of Strip the City is that it highlights the impact that human activity has on the environment. For example, in the episode about Las Vegas, the experts explain how the city's insatiable demand for water has caused significant damage to the surrounding landscape, and the measures being taken to reduce the impact.

Overall, Strip the City is an informative and engaging television series that takes viewers on a fascinating journey through some of the world's most remarkable urban landscapes. By peeling back the layers of our cities, the show reveals the incredible engineering, geological, and environmental challenges that have been overcome to create the places we call home.

Strip the City is a series that ran for 2 seasons (14 episodes) between October 27, 2012 and on Science Channel