Density Around the World
Interesting chart, via Ezra Klein, on relative densities of major cities around the world. When folks like me talk about increasing density in the Seattle metro area, we're talking about going from Houston-like levels to maybe, maybe Stockholm- or Berlin-like levels.
I'm sure there are issues with this chart and the methodology (Is Barcelona really 4 times denser than New York?), but the point is that, relatively speaking, we don't have to increase density by all that much to see significant benefits in transit use and energy conservation.
Update: Speaking of Stockholm...
- Frank's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Tags
I don't think New York is that dense (compared to other big cities) when you consider the city as a whole. Manhattan is certanly dense, but then it's mostly offices so even then it wouldn't count very high.
One of my favorite cities I've visited is Shanghai. There are parks for people to gather and interact, excercise is done in the street in groups, and there's a real sense of community - which is astounding for such a huge and dense city. There were certainly plenty of people, but the city is well planned with good transportation systems so it doesn't feel crowded. I could get anywhere I needed to go using nothing by the subway and my feet. Suburbanites travel via bicycle or electric scooter.
I don't think densities have that much to do with it. It's all about what transportation is available to a person. New York is very low on that list technically speaking, but it has the 3rd busiest Subway system in the world. Dubai is building a Metro that will open in 2009. The density of that country is 1/3rd of typical US cities, yet they expect 600,000 daily riders.
The problem is that most of our cities just don't have effective rail transit and the cities that do have it don't have enough of it.