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Low density doesn’t = nature, it equals car-dominant sprawl, which is what creates the pollution and noise you mention.
Cities aren’t loud, cars are loud.
How dense is your city?
21–30 of 71 posts
Re: How dense is your city?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because none of those things are linked. Most cities around the world have pretty extensive parklands, botanic gardens, and public transport links to nature reserves. Crime is area dependent, not density. And noise is mostly linked to car traffic, which is often reduced in higher density areas.
Car traffic might be reduced per capita in higher density areas, but all of it is concentrated and is right near all the people. Multiply by the sirens of ambulance and police that are constantly going somewhere. Compare to a dead-end suburb street which only 5-10 cars have any reason for driving at all.
You've got it: cars ruin cities. And it can be undone. https://slate.com/business/2023/03/paris-car-ban-bikes-cycli...
Re: How dense is your city?
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because none of those things are linked. Most cities around the world have pretty extensive parklands, botanic gardens, and public transport links to nature reserves. Crime is area dependent, not density. And noise is mostly linked to car traffic, which is often reduced in higher density areas.
Car traffic might be reduced per capita in higher density areas, but all of it is concentrated and is right near all the people. Multiply by the sirens of ambulance and police that are constantly going somewhere. Compare to a dead-end suburb street which only 5-10 cars have any reason for driving at all.
Sprawling suburbs are the opposite of nature.
A single large park inside a dense city is far more nature-rich than acres upon acres of suburban lawns are.
Re: How dense is your city?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is higher density “winning?”
Better for the planet, better food and cultural options, shorter travel times for typical daily activities... in my book it definitely is.
And worse for the people who live there. I get anxiety just thinking of living in a dense city. Everyone I know who left a dense city never wants to go back - they talk like people who suffered from Stockholm syndrome and were now freed.
And that doesn't even touch the economics: For the most part cities make money by services and not by physical items. Services are very lucrative, so on paper cities make tons of money. But they don't make anything people need to live.
Virtually every single thing people buy in a city comes from outside the city. It's not a lifestyle that everyone can adopt. For the most part there's a balance, with some living in a city and some rural - but people should be extremely cautious about any kind of policy that can mess with that balance.
Re: How dense is your city?
#25It’s really helpful to have such a visualisation tool. I’ve felt Mumbai as being quite dense (partially because of the sea around it), and throwing a few “most dense cities” like Dhaka/Manila/Tokyo/Jakarta so far still results in Mumbai having the highest cumulative density values (made much more explicit when excluding large water bodies). Question/challenge: can anyone find any other city with a greater density? Dh…
The Hong Kong core, makes sense because the HK core is super-dense
The reason HK is not more dense in general is because much of the TAR is unlivable water and mountains that have to be worked around (lots of bridges and tunnels). Once you just count people on livable land, its density shoots up. It isn’t like other cities where density ever tapers off, it’s just clumps of apartment skyscrapers here and there.
Re: How dense is your city?
#26[flagged]
Suburban Sprawl is not good for nature. Cities allow for more areas to remain nature.
Re: How dense is your city?
#27[flagged]
Honestly, I moved to the suburbs and hate it with a passion. I miss density, I miss city noise, and I miss the unquantifiable energy I get from a city.
This thread has been an interesting read, city and non-city people literally like what the other sides loathes.
Re: How dense is your city?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Better for the planet, better food and cultural options, shorter travel times for typical daily activities... in my book it definitely is.
And worse for the people who live there. I get anxiety just thinking of living in a dense city. Everyone I know who left a dense city never wants to go back - they talk like people who suffered from Stockholm syndrome and were now freed. And that doesn't even touch the economics: For the most part cities make money by services and not by physical items. Services are very lucrative, so on paper cities make tons of mon…
Lawns are a Veblen good, like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior handbags. That we don't see them as ostentatious the same way is a matter of culture. By all means, people should live where they want to live; urban, suburban, rural. But let's be honest about things.
Re: How dense is your city?
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
And worse for the people who live there. I get anxiety just thinking of living in a dense city. Everyone I know who left a dense city never wants to go back - they talk like people who suffered from Stockholm syndrome and were now freed. And that doesn't even touch the economics: For the most part cities make money by services and not by physical items. Services are very lucrative, so on paper cities make tons of mon…
Lawns are a Veblen good, like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior handbags. That we don't see them as ostentatious the same way is a matter of culture. By all means, people should live where they want to live; urban, suburban, rural. But let's be honest about things.
Lawns are a place where I play, or my kids play. Or where I go to just sit and enjoy nature. They are also decoration (flower bed for example) to make my surroundings more pleasant which helps my mental state.
If your lawn is a Veblen good you are doing it wrong.
Re: How dense is your city?
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lawns are a Veblen good, like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior handbags. That we don't see them as ostentatious the same way is a matter of culture. By all means, people should live where they want to live; urban, suburban, rural. But let's be honest about things.
Lawns are a place where I play, or my kids play. Or where I go to just sit and enjoy nature. They are also decoration (flower bed for example) to make my surroundings more pleasant which helps my mental state. If your lawn is a Veblen good you are doing it wrong.
People enjoy their Louis Vuitton handbags, also improving their mental state. So the fact that you enjoy your lawn doesn't make it any less of a luxury good. Not faulting you for having one, we humans like our luxuries. Let's just understand that's what they are. Like BMWs and Rolexes.