ABSTRACT
There are 7.8 billion people on the planet and this is projected to rise rapidly to 10 billion by 2056 with population explosions in Africa and Asia. Where will all these people live? Probably in cities both new and evolved, but just how big should a city be? Trends towards forming mega-urban clusters of 50 million people have been initiated to meet China’s rapid urbanisation, yet the inhabitants of most developed countries prefer small city life. Regardless of the pros and cons of each, new urban development is necessarily going to have to be dense, and dense cities actually have a large number of benefits in terms of supporting social and community vibrancy, high-quality yet cheap public transport services, and high provision and efficient use of shared facilities. New data demonstrates that dense cities can actually be more healthy as well, whilst compact housing and prefabricated development models being trialled globally can prioritise shared convenience with community wellness that makes more efficient use of precious inner-city space.
