Hong Kong: There Be Dragons

And now for some regional humor. Time Out Hong Kong recently created an insightful map of the Special Administrative Region (SAR). This should explain a little of what-happens-where in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Click to enlarge the image above.

The island at left, home of "Buddha, Buffalo and Boars" is Lantau, where a giant Buddha sculpture looks out from a hilltop. The Passengers visited in 2009. The island just above is the international airport. You get to the monastery and sculpture via a cable car that departs from the remote suburb of Tung Chung Town, the area of Lantau for "People Who Have Given up on Life."

Up north the Angry Villagers live next to the mainland boomtown of Shenzen. They are even further north than where more centrally located  Hong Kongers go to the racecourse – there be "Horses." For comparison, here's a map that's a little less atmospheric and names some actual districts. This comes from the local census department, where you can look up all sorts of other data and actual facts.

Urban Density of Singapore

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.