Today, even as we rediscover the conveniences and advantages of urban areas, density and multi-use areas are often seen as the enemies of livable environments.... Today, even as we rediscover the conveniences and advantages of urban areas, density and multi-use areas are often seen as the enemies of livable environments. Density is essential to giving a city its "energy," and a lack of it--large spaces between buildings-- serves only as a limiter of interaction, like suburban sprawl.

Unlike in the animal world, density, for humans, does not ultimately lead to aggression. Writer Stephan Friedman noted that Hong Kong, while dense, has not been plagued with the affronts to physical safety as has Atlanta or Washington, DC.

"It's an oversimplification to view high density as directly leading to individual or group pathology. For example, Hong Kong, considered to be the most dense city in the world, has thirteen census tracts with more than 2,000 residents per acre. In terms of room density, many Hong Kong residents have only twenty-four square feet per person. The fact that the mortality rate, number of psychiatric disorders, and amount of serious crime in Hong Kong is considerably lower than in many cities with much lower density figures argues strongly against extrapolating from these animal studies."

Creating spaces for cars rather than people does not contribute to a city's density or liveliness. Space used for cars, especially parking lots, cannot be used for people. If there must be space for cars, it should be in the form of a garage which is built with stores and even apartments. Parking in the rear, while more visually appealing than in the front of buildings, serves to reduce density just the same.

On the contrary to the suburban ideal of one house on a few acres and drive in strip malls, density is essential for a city to maximize its potential to advance knowledge through interaction, not to mention be convenient to the largest array of entertainment, consumption and transportation options.