Land Area Coverage of the Next 2 Billion People This Century (PART 2)

Continuing on with comparisons of some contemporary cities let's look at 3 American exhibits that would at first appear to compete at the global urban scale in terms of crowding and density; New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Certainly, at the heart of each is a bustling skyscraper studded core on par with the most prolific of examples from any other nation on Earth; but again we must look at the composition of the metropolitan areas which they represent.

-New York City- is at the center of a metropolitan region strong with nearly 19 million people, and is situated on a land area sprawling across 6,720 square miles, short of Beijing by about 200 square miles and 1 million personalities. See the map below and you will find that the world-renowned island of Manhattan is numbered, "1," representing a minute fraction of the metropolitan area. In fact, the human density of the area comes to only 2,838 per square mile, placing Metro New York well behind the majority of Asian and European megacity competitors. To be fair, New York City actually stands firmly among the most crowded of cities when factoring its urban core, particularly the island of Manhattan, with an area of less than 23 square miles and 1.6 million people. The core density of 70,951 people per square mile places Manhattan firmly among the more crowded (well documented and easily observed) locations on Earth, though we will see that many underscrutinized areas obliterate even this station.

New York Metropolitan Area (6,720 square miles, 19 million people, 2,838 per square mile)

 

 

 

-Chicago- is at the center of a metropolitan region strong with about 9.6 million people, and is situated on a land area spanning 9,581 square miles. In fact, the human density of the area comes to only 1002 per square mile, placing Metro Chicago far behind most global competitors. To be fair, Chicago actually stands firmly among the most crowded of cities when factoring only its urban core, an area of 234 square miles and 2.7 million people. The core density of 11,538 people per square mile is moderate among global competitors and gives downtown Chicago a distinct American urban flavor.

Chicago Metro Area white

(9,581 square miles, 9.6 million people, 1002 per square mile). City in red.

-Los Angeles- is at the center of a metropolitan region strong with approximately 13-14  million people, and is situated on a land area spanning 4,850 square miles. The human density of the area comes to 2,654 per square mile, placing Metro Los Angeles far behind many global competitors. To be fair, Los Angeles actually rises through the ranks significantly when factoring only its namesake city. Los Angeles, has a land area of 469 square miles and 3.9 million people. A density of 7,544 people per square mile is moderate among global competitors giving Los Angeles a distinct urban flavor reflecting dozens of resident nationalities.

Los Angeles- Long Beach- Santa Ana Metro Area (4,850 square miles, 12.9 million people, 2,654 per square mile)

 

 

 

 Vast hinterlands house the greatest share of population in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. These cities represent some of the strongest cases of American contribution to appropriate urbanism as humanity rises past 7 billion and onward. In order to cast these cities among the largest in the world, classified as megacities, the regional populations must be tagged to the namesake city centers gaining for them extra millions, though this deed distorts the true extent of our cities. The consumption necessary to feed, house, and entertain personalities housed in American cities outstripped the global capacity for sustainable production decades ago, when highways carried away new middle-class families from what were then dirty-industrial city centers. Industrial technology has come a long way in cleaning up industry, while building technology has made possible safe clean and abundant urban housing. In America, legal blockades to efficient urban form come in the form of neighborhood covenants, outdated zoning ordinances, building setback requirements, surface parking requirements, expansive road building specifications, among others. The city centers on exhibit above were largely crafted before contemporary zoning ordinances were established and new additions or alterations to antique structures often face stifling restrictions to use or additional construction. Please, follow the upcoming installment.