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| If the entire population of earth was squeezed into a city as dense as [blank], how much land would it need Click the image to enlarge. Source: Per Square Mile. |
I have been known to complain about the suburban nature of life in Singapore, especially when we
lived near the
malls of
Novena. Among air-conditioned palaces of commerce complete with multi-story parking garages one misses the thrill of discovery that comes from strolling along the streets from neighborhood to neighborhood. Here in a wealthy city-state where many families own cars and the weather makes it unpleasant to walk too far outdoors pedestrians often get second-tier status. The island can seem like a boring, sprawling landscape to someone familiar with the walkable streets of Manhattan and Central London.
However, as the above
graphic from Tim de Chant at
Per Square Mile illustrates, Singapore houses a population of 5.35 million on less than 700 square kilometers, making it more dense than London or the five boroughs of New York City. As a modern city the urban fabric simply has better provision for automobile traffic, and the government
tries hard to ensure that cars don't overrun the island.
Actually, the population density of Singapore is even more intense than expressed by Per Square Mile, as Tim de Chant acknowledges in comments below his post, because the island maintains a number of nature reserves, reservoirs, and military installations that have not been planted with the ubiquitous government-sponsored, tenant-owned
HDB apartment towers. The map above from the
CIA Factbook shows built-up areas in grey. The Factobook also provide this satellite view, which shows distribution of settlement.
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