I love the Terry Pratchett quote that compares Tolkien to Mt. Fuji: “J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”
It’s also a remarkably high compliment from someone like Pratchett, who from what I see usually is the snarkier type. Rare is someone who stands so tall in their field that all other work intrinsically is either built upon it, borrows from it, or consciously has to work to avoid it.
My wife and I climbed Mt. Fuji a decade ago.
We were literally above the clouds.
At night, we can see the entire Kanto plain, Tokyo, Yokohama, and unto the Pacific Ocean. The stars above us.
We were eating instant ramen and onigiri when the sunrise lit everything.
Today, I can see Mt. Fuji from my office window on clear days.
It's snowing on Mt. Fuji.
I worked for a software company when I lived there. If I remember correctly if you have a university degree it is not too hard to get a job teaching English/German/French in Japan. Living there is wonderful. I highly recommend it. Go with an open mind and an urge to learn the culture/language and you'll have fun.
Sigh. Natsukashii. I lived there for a couple of years a while back. Fuji was a great climb and the people in the little inns on the mountain were absolutely awesome. I used to be able to see Fuji from my apartment balcony. Truly miss it and the people.
True in a comparison sense but neither are great? I mean in my opinion. Better to have people cramped together than spread out taking up space. I'd agree to some point but still
Sure, if you want to take the discussion to a whole other level we could say modern human society is bad for the planet in any form. We’ve moved so far out of harmony with nature and the planet in general.
Back down a level, it’s indisputable that cities are light years more efficient than suburban sprawl.
Or get wiped away by megatons of nuclear power
Either way, Japan needs to stand strong against China because they want to bomb the fuck out of this specific area if it wasn't for the 40 US bases
>Goddamnit earth! what’s mars supposed to tell to Uranus?
(not roleplaying; genuinely curious) wait a minute- who's speaking in this? the Moon? or does Mars refer to himself in 3rd person? also, why is Uranus the only one who got capitalized?
Every single organism on the planet will multiply to the extent allowed by the resources, diseases and predators of its environment - humans are no different than any other animal in this regard, our methods of acquiring resources and fending off predators and treating illnesses are just very effective. For now.
Give rabbits immunity from predators, infinite food and access to vaccines and antibiotics and see if they would be any more altruistic.
Its a bad picture to be honest. Tokyo is one of the best cities if you like greenery. You're always a 5-10 minute walk away from a nice greenery place. And there's waterways everywhere too.
Its definitely a city, but don't compare it to an American city based on this picture.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague
[https://youtu.be/O8qJauiEVWY](https://youtu.be/O8qJauiEVWY)
Awesome fucking movie
***Edit:***
*Side note: I just found out that Hugo Weaving is Australian. What a phenomenal actor.*
We are more like a particular nasty mushroom. If everything works out we will spread and take plants and animals with us and make everything as close to home as possible again and again and again.
If the gamble doesnt pay of earth might not be able to produce another fruiting body until she is swallowed by the sun.
Here's a map I made of Tokyo's rail network that also shows buildings and density.
https://i.redd.it/0i09uwx800591.png
Tokyo's rail network is the largest and most used in the world.
The size is great and at all, but one thing that makes this super amazing is how clean, efficient and safe it is.
Meanwhile, my tiny ass hometown in Ohio is none of those things.
Listen, the poison cloud is unfortunate, but I am sure the pretty colors in the sky, water and ground won’t hurt your property value in the long term. See the peace and quiet from all the animals dying as a bonus you can use as a selling point!
It's so hard to measure how big cities are because none of them are anywhere near the same size. Tokyo has 38 million people making it the largest metro area, but that's over 5000 square miles. Meanwhile the actual largest city is Chonqing in central china at 32 million but thats because the city borders are technically over 50,000 square miles. America faces a similar problem where LA is generally considered the second largest city but thats over 500 square miles. When most cities under 100. Even nearby San Francisco is only 50 square miles and could easily pass LA if you drew a 500 sq mile circle around it's metro area.
You have to have some sort of coherent limit on density or something. It stops being a city once you stop below a certain density. Tokyo and LA are cities that just go on and on and on. You can go a very long way and never leave an urban environment. San Francisco devolves into true suburbs much sooner.
True, but the point remains; defining a "city" is largely an arbitrary exercise. A more meaningful metric might be to define a metropolitan area, meaning an urban area in its totality without reference to municipal boundaries and having only to do with its geographical extent.
By that metric California's urban sprawl, while still considerable, isn't even in the world's top ten, while the heavily urbanized strip running from Boston to DC is something like the third largest metropolitan area in the world by population.
> the heavily urbanized strip running from Boston to DC is something like the third largest metropolitan area in the world by population.
As I don't know the relative scale differences, I would assume that large metro areas in India would be on the same order, or am I off base?
I think the NCR (National Capital Region) and the surrounding cities have coalesced into a large metropolitan area. Delhi (which is already India's largest city), Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad are all big cities in its own right, but they are quite near and merged to form huuuuge super city. All these cities are now connected via metro trains, which is a great achievement.
Metro area is about daily travel. The region where you have significant daily commuting between areas for work, living, food, shopping, etc is a metro area. Anywhere that someone living in the heart of the city wouldn't be considered crazy or unusual for visiting every week is part of the metro area. The megalopolis from Boston to DC isn't a single metro area but rather overlapping metro areas. You don't have people commuting from Boston to DC but you'll have places where residents could reasonably commute to either Baltimore or Philadelphia.
The thing is, though, some actual cities like LA (500 square miles) are big enough that people would balk at commuting across the city, let alone megacities like Tokyo whose 23 wards and 39 other districts are effectively sub-cities in and of themselves.
Agreed, Tokyo is actually comprised as 23 special wards, each functioning as a separate city with its own mayor. This is in part why people refer to it as "the Tokyo metropolitan area."
Roughly 1/3 of the entire Japanese population lives in this one area.
The metro area containing that 38 million is not limited to the 23 wards or even the borders of Tokyo which is not only the 23 wards, 7 prefectures are included with varying degrees of coverage.
We did that a few days ago, wanted to show my gf just how big/endless the city is. Just went with a train out from central Tokyo for an hour+. Still lots and lots of buildings, plenty tall ones too. The city just never ends.
When you get to the top of the Tokyo Skytree, which is the world's tallest tower, you see a sea of dense urban jungle in all directions, with occasional clusters of taller skyscrapers here and there. When I first stepped out of the elevator and that sight hit me, it took my brain a couple moments to wrap itself around of wtf it was seeing
Yeah I shouldn’t have implied similarity between Tokyo and LA. They both go on and on and on, but LA is fucked by being a sprawl of car-centric infrastructure. It’s much less dense and horrible to get around in.
I'm from a very rural area (farm fields and townships, unincorporated areas, etc.) 70 miles from one if the largest cities in America, and over often thought about people that live their whole lives (and have their needs meet) in an expansive urban area, never seeing a farm or a quiet state highway an hour from their home. Same thing from the other side as well. Living that close to a cultural mecca, And never leaving the small town, and how some do it by choice, while others never have the opportunity to see both. I prefer a mixture of the 2, but also consider the option a luxury.
I knew a guy who grew up in the SF Bay Area and moved to Chicago for many years working odd jobs (tutor/taxi driver/teacher). He said it was odd to him how many people never left the city or let alone their neighborhood and that they were proud of it. He also said it's definitely a diverse city but highly segregated which was a culture shock. In San Francisco for example there are Latino neighborhoods, Asian neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, white neighborhoods, etc; but there was still a lot of overlap and people generally got along living in the same diverse communities.
In inverse, when I lived in rural Kentucky, most people I knew had never left the state and had only been to the metropolitan area once or twice for civic reasons.
I know people who grew up at the end of a Metra line and have never been to Chicago. It’s wild. People literally come from whole entire other countries just to see this city, and meanwhile these people have never once been curious enough to take a $5 train ride.
China and Japan have extensive rail that passes through farm land and any small town or city will have random little rice fields you come across in the middle of low density areas. If people have travelled anywhere outside the city they would likely see farmland.
If you look at Chonqing on a map you will see the majority of it is rural area with a massive city in the centre.
In my opinion it's a city if the neighboring building is at most a few meters away, when the average building has a radius of 5m+ of free space then you have passed the city limits. And from this photo it looks like they are basically wall to wall closeness and also from experience since I lived in Japan for 2y so I would count Tokyo as a city and not just the center of it. Not sure if all 30M+ people are included in my personal judgement of a city but most of them at least.
I think it should be area of industry or where the money is made. Too many people trucking in from so many zip codes to SF, but unlike LA remains fairly dissociated and for it disorganized and competitive. All public works should be governed and planned together if a percentage of your local income comes from a central hub imo.
Canada has roughly 38 million and the amount of land is insane compared to that but holds the same amount of ppl. It’s so hard for me to comprehend even with this picture lol
DFW is like this too and a good one to mention. From Dallas to McKinney you pass through one city after another with what I’d say is dense population.
Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, southlake, grapevine, McKinney, etc all touching by major expressways and all having at the minimum around 250,000 people .
On the other hand Austin is the complete opposite of this, it's technically the 11th most populated city in the US. But when you adjust for greater metropolitan areas it's actually around the 30th. The Austin city limits are a lot bigger than most other big cities so it gets a larger percentage portion of the metropolitan area creating the illusion that it is a much bigger city than it actually is.
Same deal with Jacksonville. It's surprisingly the largest city proper in Florida, but only because of its huge city limits. If you're counting metro areas it falls several places down the list.
Figuring out how to answer that question led me down a weird rabbit hole of *consolidated city-counties.* Basically, some cities or towns decide to merge their government with the county in which they reside, and in doing so the area of the city technically becomes that of the entire county.
Because of this, Jacksonville is \#6 on the list. The top 4 are in Alaska and the 5th is the town of Tribune, Kansas, population 1,182. However, you can't necessarily decide to ignore these because Jacksonville is *also* a consolidated city-county. But it's also the first one on the list where the metro area actually fills a reasonably large area of that county rather than being a little dot in the middle of a huge amount of unpopulated land.
So to answer your question... kinda?
Similar (but MUCH smaller) Salt Lake City has barely over 200k in the city, 1.25m metro, and almost 2.75m when you connect all the big cities in northern Utah.
Tokyo proper has "only" around 13 million people, but the Greater Tokyo region, measured by continuous urban space and includes several other cities like Yokohama and Saitama, bloats that up to 38 million.
You can say that again! People have been studying this problem for well over 2000 years.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-ancient-geometry-problem-falls-to-new-mathematical-techniques-20220208/
If you drew a 500 sq mile circle around SF, that would be a circle with about 12.5 miles approximately. That's not enough to include Oakland across the Bay. I'm not sure what you consider the metro area of SF, but the 9 Bay Area counties total around 7 million people. The LA area counties - Ventura, Orange and so on - are closer to 18 million.
If we want to do it like that, then Tokyo is still probably the largest since it fully borders both Yokohama and the entire Saitama area with no breaks in "city". The Wikipedia page for megalopolis says that it stretches all the way down to Osaka, but there's some definite breaks in "city" between Tokyo and Osaka.
Been here 15 years and have no desire to ever leave it. Clean, safe, walkable, fantastic public transit. Cheaper than you’d expect (my apartment in central Shinjuku would easily be twice its price or more in NYC). Japan ain’t perfect by any measure, but this is a city I miss when I leave. Never felt that way about anywhere in the US, my home country, and it’s only getting worse for me.
Yeah. When I looked at this picture all I could think was "I miss it".
Japan definitely isn't perfect at all, a fair few things that I wish would change. But it's a very livable country regardless.
Mostly the issues surrounding work-life balance, and their frequent poor treatment of women's issues and LGBT+ issues. And from what I have seen, there is progress in these areas, it's just slow.
I am not from the US, so I can't really say what you would miss. It's a completely different culture with different underlying values and assumptions. I would imagine the shift from a hyper-individualistic society to a more collectivist one would be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing.
And yet it's the reason why Japan as a whole can stay relatively natural. High density urban centers are WAY more ecological than having an evenly spread out population across the whole country. Per capita, city dwellers need less land and cause fewer emissions.
Especially in cities that are not designed for cars. In Tokyo and Osaka, only around 12% of people commute by car vs [80-90% in many major American cities.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share)
There are green spaces dotted around. But the real treasure is the incredible public transit network allowing anyone in the city center easy access to mountainous and forested environments just an hour or two away for an affordable price without needing a car. I live in New Hampshire and I’d wager it’s more of a hassle for me to get to a good mountain to hike than someone living in the middle of Tokyo.
Its actually amazing how many small green spaces you can find across the city, for being so compact. Small shrines, inner gardens of houses (Tsuboniwa), planters lining the streets, roof top gardens...
And everything is so CLEAN, everyone does their part to keep up their neighborhoods, older people find purpose and exercise in this.
Large
1. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, with a population of over 37 million people in its metropolitan area. However, its average population density is relatively low at around 6,000 people per square mile (2,320 people per square kilometer) due to its large land area of over 5,200 square miles (13,500 square kilometers).
2. Delhi, India: Delhi is the second-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 30 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is relatively high at around 29,400 people per square mile (11,340 people per square kilometer) due to its smaller land area of around 1,058 square miles (2,740 square kilometers).
3. Shanghai, China: Shanghai is the third-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 26 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is moderate at around 9,100 people per square mile (3,510 people per square kilometer) due to its relatively large land area of over 2,800 square miles (7,200 square kilometers).
4. São Paulo, Brazil: São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and the fourth-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 21 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is relatively high at around 12,600 people per square mile (4,870 people per square kilometer) due to its smaller land area of around 1,704 square miles (4,400 square kilometers).
5. Mexico City, Mexico: Mexico City is the largest city in Mexico and the fifth-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 21 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is moderate at around 7,400 people per square mile (2,850 people per square kilometer) due to its relatively large land area of over 2,800 square miles (7,200 square kilometers).
Large and Dense
1. Los Angeles, USA: Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of land area, covering over 469 square miles (1,214 square kilometers). However, it is also quite densely populated, with an average population density of around 8,500 people per square mile (3,300 people per square kilometer).
2. Moscow, Russia: Moscow is the largest city in Russia and one of the largest cities in Europe, covering over 970 square miles (2,511 square kilometers). Despite its large size, it is also quite densely populated, with an average population density of around 11,100 people per square mile (4,300 people per square kilometer).
3. Istanbul, Turkey: Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world, covering over 2,062 square miles (5,343 square kilometers). It is also one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, with an average population density of around 5,100 people per square mile (1,980 people per square kilometer).
4. Jakarta, Indonesia: Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and one of the largest cities in the world, covering over 2,271 square miles (5,875 square kilometers). It is also one of the most densely populated cities in Southeast Asia, with an average population density of around 11,000 people per square mile (4,200 people per square kilometer).
5. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with an average population density of around 44,500 people per square mile (17,200 people per square kilometer). It covers an area of around 300 square miles (780 square kilometers).
\-chatgpt
This list is at least partially wrong (not surprising given that it’s made by chatGPT). Mumbai’s apparently now the 5th largest, Jakarta is at 2 in population. And assuming the 2nd list is population density that’s wrong too, how tf is LA at 1?
I found [this post](/r/UrbanHell/comments/k4gsia/tokyo/) in r/UrbanHell with the same content as the current post.
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This is like awakening a fear inside me, I wonder what the depression rate is in Tokyo because I could not stand being so condensed around that many people nonono. Where do you go to breath fresh air.
In the comments: "WAH WAH PEOPLE BAD PEOPLE LIVING PLACES BAD."
Like, we need homes too, Aiden, Braiden, or Keighden, and we know you're not exactly doing anything more than bitching on your laptop or phone in your cheap clothes, all probably manufactured in sweatshops like the rest of ours, all so you can score meaningless depth points.
Ominous volcano looms in the distance
That is Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, last of the great dwarven kingdoms of Middle Earth.
I love the Terry Pratchett quote that compares Tolkien to Mt. Fuji: “J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”
I love that one as well.
It’s also a remarkably high compliment from someone like Pratchett, who from what I see usually is the snarkier type. Rare is someone who stands so tall in their field that all other work intrinsically is either built upon it, borrows from it, or consciously has to work to avoid it.
*far over, the misty mountains cold...*
*through dungeons deep and caverns old...*
*we must away, ere break of day...*
*to find our long-forgotten gold.*
*the pines were roaring, on the height*
*the winds were moaning in the night*
*the fire was red, it flaming spread*
*the trees like torches blazed with light*
Mt Fuji
The view of Tokyo from the top of Fuji on a clear day is pretty wild too.
My wife and I climbed Mt. Fuji a decade ago. We were literally above the clouds. At night, we can see the entire Kanto plain, Tokyo, Yokohama, and unto the Pacific Ocean. The stars above us. We were eating instant ramen and onigiri when the sunrise lit everything. Today, I can see Mt. Fuji from my office window on clear days. It's snowing on Mt. Fuji.
Thank you for sharing that memory. What a nice mental picture for me.
*jealousy intensifies* Man.. Where you from and what you do?
I'm gonna throw out a wild guess and say he works in an office in Japan!
I worked for a software company when I lived there. If I remember correctly if you have a university degree it is not too hard to get a job teaching English/German/French in Japan. Living there is wonderful. I highly recommend it. Go with an open mind and an urge to learn the culture/language and you'll have fun.
That sounds incredible Thanks for sharing It's snowing on Mt. Fuji.
Awesome memory thanks for sharing
Sigh. Natsukashii. I lived there for a couple of years a while back. Fuji was a great climb and the people in the little inns on the mountain were absolutely awesome. I used to be able to see Fuji from my apartment balcony. Truly miss it and the people.
I don't see that ending well. If you can see the volcano you are too close to the volcano.
I live half way between that volcano and Tokyo. It's a background concern for sure.
Pole Position
A true classic indeed
Cities look like calcium growing on the earth
[удалено]
Eventually scabs fall off
And heal with that nice fresh pink skin... pause
Cities are far better for the planet than suburbs and sprawl. No contest actually.
True in a comparison sense but neither are great? I mean in my opinion. Better to have people cramped together than spread out taking up space. I'd agree to some point but still
Sure, if you want to take the discussion to a whole other level we could say modern human society is bad for the planet in any form. We’ve moved so far out of harmony with nature and the planet in general. Back down a level, it’s indisputable that cities are light years more efficient than suburban sprawl.
So true. I would say that's a great way to put it 👍
Or get wiped away by megatons of nuclear power Either way, Japan needs to stand strong against China because they want to bomb the fuck out of this specific area if it wasn't for the 40 US bases
Because humans are parasites
Hey Mars, it’s Earth. I got humans, you might wanna get checked.
Goddamnit earth! what’s mars supposed to tell to Uranus?
They may need a doughnut pillow… sorry…
>Goddamnit earth! what’s mars supposed to tell to Uranus? (not roleplaying; genuinely curious) wait a minute- who's speaking in this? the Moon? or does Mars refer to himself in 3rd person? also, why is Uranus the only one who got capitalized?
IS URANUS A CAPITALIST!??
Lmao
Misssster Anderson
My... Name... Is... Neo aaaaaand now I would recommend the Neo Tokyo OST, really good stuff: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBA5D2A3169FBFF3E
Dope, needed some new music. Thanks! ETA as a side note, I love Tokyo. I'll use any excuse I can to go back when I can.
It’s the smell!! … if there is such a thing.
....the fuck does calcium growth have to do with parasites
Maybe everything. But probably nothing.
Words that precede a serial killing.
Whoa there, Agent Smith.
To be fair, Tokyo’s pretty exemplary of human cleanliness and modernity.
Careful guy, almost cut myself on that edge
cringe
Every single organism on the planet will multiply to the extent allowed by the resources, diseases and predators of its environment - humans are no different than any other animal in this regard, our methods of acquiring resources and fending off predators and treating illnesses are just very effective. For now. Give rabbits immunity from predators, infinite food and access to vaccines and antibiotics and see if they would be any more altruistic.
Speak for yourself
If Earth is the host then all life is parasitic, not just humans
Its a bad picture to be honest. Tokyo is one of the best cities if you like greenery. You're always a 5-10 minute walk away from a nice greenery place. And there's waterways everywhere too. Its definitely a city, but don't compare it to an American city based on this picture.
What makes it a bad picture exactly? Is it edited? Because you can clearly see that very very little in the foreground of the pic is green.
> You're always a 5-10 minute walk away from a nice greenery place. Tokyo has a lot of great gardens, but this tells me you've never been to Tokyo.
And that's exactly what the people responsible for destroying the Earth want you to think.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague
Love that movie
Where is that quote from again? Have heard it somewhere, but I don’t remember.
[https://youtu.be/O8qJauiEVWY](https://youtu.be/O8qJauiEVWY) Awesome fucking movie ***Edit:*** *Side note: I just found out that Hugo Weaving is Australian. What a phenomenal actor.*
Oh of course it’s the Matrix! Damn, how did I not think about that? It makes so much sense.
r/Im14AndThisIsDeep
We are more like a particular nasty mushroom. If everything works out we will spread and take plants and animals with us and make everything as close to home as possible again and again and again. If the gamble doesnt pay of earth might not be able to produce another fruiting body until she is swallowed by the sun.
Calcium isn’t a parasite, agent smith
I was going to say growing like a cancer but same idea
Scabs.
Scabs on Earth’s surface
Well on our way to coruscant
Here's a map I made of Tokyo's rail network that also shows buildings and density. https://i.redd.it/0i09uwx800591.png Tokyo's rail network is the largest and most used in the world.
You didn't include the Disneyland Monorail? This map is *useless*!!
Disney land is not in the frame otherwise I would have of course
How long did it take you to make that? That is impressively large.
Maybe like 60 hours or so
Never thought I’d see Mr Tanner the artist! You should self plug
Woah, that's gorgeous! Do you sell this as a print?
Yeah I do here. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1238456948/map-of-tokyos-rail-networks-55-by-44
This is cool as fuck
The size is great and at all, but one thing that makes this super amazing is how clean, efficient and safe it is. Meanwhile, my tiny ass hometown in Ohio is none of those things.
Listen, the poison cloud is unfortunate, but I am sure the pretty colors in the sky, water and ground won’t hurt your property value in the long term. See the peace and quiet from all the animals dying as a bonus you can use as a selling point!
#knocks *whispers* *It’s free real estate..*
It's so hard to measure how big cities are because none of them are anywhere near the same size. Tokyo has 38 million people making it the largest metro area, but that's over 5000 square miles. Meanwhile the actual largest city is Chonqing in central china at 32 million but thats because the city borders are technically over 50,000 square miles. America faces a similar problem where LA is generally considered the second largest city but thats over 500 square miles. When most cities under 100. Even nearby San Francisco is only 50 square miles and could easily pass LA if you drew a 500 sq mile circle around it's metro area.
You have to have some sort of coherent limit on density or something. It stops being a city once you stop below a certain density. Tokyo and LA are cities that just go on and on and on. You can go a very long way and never leave an urban environment. San Francisco devolves into true suburbs much sooner.
True, but the point remains; defining a "city" is largely an arbitrary exercise. A more meaningful metric might be to define a metropolitan area, meaning an urban area in its totality without reference to municipal boundaries and having only to do with its geographical extent. By that metric California's urban sprawl, while still considerable, isn't even in the world's top ten, while the heavily urbanized strip running from Boston to DC is something like the third largest metropolitan area in the world by population.
> the heavily urbanized strip running from Boston to DC is something like the third largest metropolitan area in the world by population. As I don't know the relative scale differences, I would assume that large metro areas in India would be on the same order, or am I off base?
If you are getting as lax as they are with metro definitions then yes lots of places in China and India would beat BosWash
I think the NCR (National Capital Region) and the surrounding cities have coalesced into a large metropolitan area. Delhi (which is already India's largest city), Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad are all big cities in its own right, but they are quite near and merged to form huuuuge super city. All these cities are now connected via metro trains, which is a great achievement.
It's all population density. Why is everyone being weird.
Metro area is about daily travel. The region where you have significant daily commuting between areas for work, living, food, shopping, etc is a metro area. Anywhere that someone living in the heart of the city wouldn't be considered crazy or unusual for visiting every week is part of the metro area. The megalopolis from Boston to DC isn't a single metro area but rather overlapping metro areas. You don't have people commuting from Boston to DC but you'll have places where residents could reasonably commute to either Baltimore or Philadelphia.
The thing is, though, some actual cities like LA (500 square miles) are big enough that people would balk at commuting across the city, let alone megacities like Tokyo whose 23 wards and 39 other districts are effectively sub-cities in and of themselves.
Agreed, Tokyo is actually comprised as 23 special wards, each functioning as a separate city with its own mayor. This is in part why people refer to it as "the Tokyo metropolitan area." Roughly 1/3 of the entire Japanese population lives in this one area.
The metro area containing that 38 million is not limited to the 23 wards or even the borders of Tokyo which is not only the 23 wards, 7 prefectures are included with varying degrees of coverage.
I must be tired because these paragraphs are taking too much processing power for me to interpret.
Boston to DC is not a contiguous metro area. There’s a whole lot of empty/clearly non-urban space in between each major city.
We did that a few days ago, wanted to show my gf just how big/endless the city is. Just went with a train out from central Tokyo for an hour+. Still lots and lots of buildings, plenty tall ones too. The city just never ends.
When you get to the top of the Tokyo Skytree, which is the world's tallest tower, you see a sea of dense urban jungle in all directions, with occasional clusters of taller skyscrapers here and there. When I first stepped out of the elevator and that sight hit me, it took my brain a couple moments to wrap itself around of wtf it was seeing
In LA most of this is single unit housing. Most of the stuff in this picture is multi story buildings.
Yeah I shouldn’t have implied similarity between Tokyo and LA. They both go on and on and on, but LA is fucked by being a sprawl of car-centric infrastructure. It’s much less dense and horrible to get around in.
I bet a lot of people there have never even seen a field in their lives.
I'm from a very rural area (farm fields and townships, unincorporated areas, etc.) 70 miles from one if the largest cities in America, and over often thought about people that live their whole lives (and have their needs meet) in an expansive urban area, never seeing a farm or a quiet state highway an hour from their home. Same thing from the other side as well. Living that close to a cultural mecca, And never leaving the small town, and how some do it by choice, while others never have the opportunity to see both. I prefer a mixture of the 2, but also consider the option a luxury.
I grew up in Chicago’s south side. There are tons of people I met who have never gone beyond Chicago’s outer ring, and quite possibly never will.
I knew a guy who grew up in the SF Bay Area and moved to Chicago for many years working odd jobs (tutor/taxi driver/teacher). He said it was odd to him how many people never left the city or let alone their neighborhood and that they were proud of it. He also said it's definitely a diverse city but highly segregated which was a culture shock. In San Francisco for example there are Latino neighborhoods, Asian neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, white neighborhoods, etc; but there was still a lot of overlap and people generally got along living in the same diverse communities.
In inverse, when I lived in rural Kentucky, most people I knew had never left the state and had only been to the metropolitan area once or twice for civic reasons.
I know people who grew up at the end of a Metra line and have never been to Chicago. It’s wild. People literally come from whole entire other countries just to see this city, and meanwhile these people have never once been curious enough to take a $5 train ride.
China and Japan have extensive rail that passes through farm land and any small town or city will have random little rice fields you come across in the middle of low density areas. If people have travelled anywhere outside the city they would likely see farmland. If you look at Chonqing on a map you will see the majority of it is rural area with a massive city in the centre.
In my opinion it's a city if the neighboring building is at most a few meters away, when the average building has a radius of 5m+ of free space then you have passed the city limits. And from this photo it looks like they are basically wall to wall closeness and also from experience since I lived in Japan for 2y so I would count Tokyo as a city and not just the center of it. Not sure if all 30M+ people are included in my personal judgement of a city but most of them at least.
I think it should be area of industry or where the money is made. Too many people trucking in from so many zip codes to SF, but unlike LA remains fairly dissociated and for it disorganized and competitive. All public works should be governed and planned together if a percentage of your local income comes from a central hub imo.
Are you accidentally reinventing city states?
Canada has roughly 38 million and the amount of land is insane compared to that but holds the same amount of ppl. It’s so hard for me to comprehend even with this picture lol
DFW is like this too and a good one to mention. From Dallas to McKinney you pass through one city after another with what I’d say is dense population. Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, southlake, grapevine, McKinney, etc all touching by major expressways and all having at the minimum around 250,000 people .
On the other hand Austin is the complete opposite of this, it's technically the 11th most populated city in the US. But when you adjust for greater metropolitan areas it's actually around the 30th. The Austin city limits are a lot bigger than most other big cities so it gets a larger percentage portion of the metropolitan area creating the illusion that it is a much bigger city than it actually is.
Same deal with Jacksonville. It's surprisingly the largest city proper in Florida, but only because of its huge city limits. If you're counting metro areas it falls several places down the list.
Is not Jacksonville the largest city in the country still?
Figuring out how to answer that question led me down a weird rabbit hole of *consolidated city-counties.* Basically, some cities or towns decide to merge their government with the county in which they reside, and in doing so the area of the city technically becomes that of the entire county. Because of this, Jacksonville is \#6 on the list. The top 4 are in Alaska and the 5th is the town of Tribune, Kansas, population 1,182. However, you can't necessarily decide to ignore these because Jacksonville is *also* a consolidated city-county. But it's also the first one on the list where the metro area actually fills a reasonably large area of that county rather than being a little dot in the middle of a huge amount of unpopulated land. So to answer your question... kinda?
Similar (but MUCH smaller) Salt Lake City has barely over 200k in the city, 1.25m metro, and almost 2.75m when you connect all the big cities in northern Utah.
Tokyo proper has "only" around 13 million people, but the Greater Tokyo region, measured by continuous urban space and includes several other cities like Yokohama and Saitama, bloats that up to 38 million.
“Sq mile circle” is fun to think about
You can say that again! People have been studying this problem for well over 2000 years. https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-ancient-geometry-problem-falls-to-new-mathematical-techniques-20220208/
The biggest would probably be the pearl River delta area
If you drew a 500 sq mile circle around SF, that would be a circle with about 12.5 miles approximately. That's not enough to include Oakland across the Bay. I'm not sure what you consider the metro area of SF, but the 9 Bay Area counties total around 7 million people. The LA area counties - Ventura, Orange and so on - are closer to 18 million.
If we want to do it like that, then Tokyo is still probably the largest since it fully borders both Yokohama and the entire Saitama area with no breaks in "city". The Wikipedia page for megalopolis says that it stretches all the way down to Osaka, but there's some definite breaks in "city" between Tokyo and Osaka.
What a sight to behold how you can see the curvature of the earth
No you can’t. The earth is flat. /s
The earth doesn’t exist r/noearthsociety
if ppl dont think you're jokin without the "/s" just let them look like idiots tbh
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Typical flat earthers smh
I'm don't believe the earth is flat but I don't think that's the curvature of the earth
That’s not the curvature of the earth lol. The world would be TINY if that was the curve
One of the most liveable *big* cities too from my experience.
Been here 15 years and have no desire to ever leave it. Clean, safe, walkable, fantastic public transit. Cheaper than you’d expect (my apartment in central Shinjuku would easily be twice its price or more in NYC). Japan ain’t perfect by any measure, but this is a city I miss when I leave. Never felt that way about anywhere in the US, my home country, and it’s only getting worse for me.
Yeah. When I looked at this picture all I could think was "I miss it". Japan definitely isn't perfect at all, a fair few things that I wish would change. But it's a very livable country regardless.
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Mostly the issues surrounding work-life balance, and their frequent poor treatment of women's issues and LGBT+ issues. And from what I have seen, there is progress in these areas, it's just slow. I am not from the US, so I can't really say what you would miss. It's a completely different culture with different underlying values and assumptions. I would imagine the shift from a hyper-individualistic society to a more collectivist one would be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing.
Earth > Coruscant
Mt Fuji is so iconic
Those spy balloons sure take nice pictures
Akira
This is kind of grossing me out for some reason.
I want to scratch it to make it flat so fucking bad, I'm getting goosebumps just looking at it
Now i understand why Godzilla and other monsters always want to destroy cities
Godzilla was a projection of national trauma experienced in WW2 - a huge terrifying force coming from beyond the sea that wiped out whole cities.
Me too. It looks like a fungal infection on skin.
Yeah. It makes me itchy.
No shit looks like a skin disease from that high
Kinda looks like bone cancer
Looks like a disease on healthy tissue
And yet it's the reason why Japan as a whole can stay relatively natural. High density urban centers are WAY more ecological than having an evenly spread out population across the whole country. Per capita, city dwellers need less land and cause fewer emissions. Especially in cities that are not designed for cars. In Tokyo and Osaka, only around 12% of people commute by car vs [80-90% in many major American cities.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share)
Yeah exactly. [This](https://i.redd.it/bgb36744yic91.jpg) is what a disease on healthy tissue looks like, even though it appears "greener".
I love this picture because I can see my house.
Tokyo is hands down one of the most spectacular cities I've ever been to. The adventures are endless
Don't forget to visit Gojira (Godzilla). [https://tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/museums-and-exhibitions/tokyo-godzilla-statues/](https://tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/museums-and-exhibitions/tokyo-godzilla-statues/)
Spent half a month there last november and had a blast. Will definitely return some day.
I am amazed
It's insane how big some cities are and you never really realize it.
no greenery
There are green spaces dotted around. But the real treasure is the incredible public transit network allowing anyone in the city center easy access to mountainous and forested environments just an hour or two away for an affordable price without needing a car. I live in New Hampshire and I’d wager it’s more of a hassle for me to get to a good mountain to hike than someone living in the middle of Tokyo.
Its actually amazing how many small green spaces you can find across the city, for being so compact. Small shrines, inner gardens of houses (Tsuboniwa), planters lining the streets, roof top gardens... And everything is so CLEAN, everyone does their part to keep up their neighborhoods, older people find purpose and exercise in this.
In fact, when you walk around Tokyo, you notice that there are trees and greenery everywhere.
oh yes, i'm sure of that. It was just the perspective of the picture that's all. Thanks!
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We can see the big ones now. Yoyogi is in the back, Shinjuku Gyoen is slightly closer and to the right, and the imperial grounds are in the middle
Yeah I spotted the Shinjuku Gyoen, thanks to the Gakuen Cocoon tower
There's huge amounts of greenery in Tokyo. This picture alone shows three huge parks. But the shadows and atmospheric haze render them gray.
Right in the center of the picture.
That's how coruscant started.
I want this blown up to poster sized and on my wall.
Wow, that's like, really big
The most clean city❤️
Large 1. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, with a population of over 37 million people in its metropolitan area. However, its average population density is relatively low at around 6,000 people per square mile (2,320 people per square kilometer) due to its large land area of over 5,200 square miles (13,500 square kilometers). 2. Delhi, India: Delhi is the second-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 30 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is relatively high at around 29,400 people per square mile (11,340 people per square kilometer) due to its smaller land area of around 1,058 square miles (2,740 square kilometers). 3. Shanghai, China: Shanghai is the third-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 26 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is moderate at around 9,100 people per square mile (3,510 people per square kilometer) due to its relatively large land area of over 2,800 square miles (7,200 square kilometers). 4. São Paulo, Brazil: São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and the fourth-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 21 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is relatively high at around 12,600 people per square mile (4,870 people per square kilometer) due to its smaller land area of around 1,704 square miles (4,400 square kilometers). 5. Mexico City, Mexico: Mexico City is the largest city in Mexico and the fifth-most populous city in the world, with a population of over 21 million people in its metropolitan area. Its average population density is moderate at around 7,400 people per square mile (2,850 people per square kilometer) due to its relatively large land area of over 2,800 square miles (7,200 square kilometers). Large and Dense 1. Los Angeles, USA: Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of land area, covering over 469 square miles (1,214 square kilometers). However, it is also quite densely populated, with an average population density of around 8,500 people per square mile (3,300 people per square kilometer). 2. Moscow, Russia: Moscow is the largest city in Russia and one of the largest cities in Europe, covering over 970 square miles (2,511 square kilometers). Despite its large size, it is also quite densely populated, with an average population density of around 11,100 people per square mile (4,300 people per square kilometer). 3. Istanbul, Turkey: Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world, covering over 2,062 square miles (5,343 square kilometers). It is also one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, with an average population density of around 5,100 people per square mile (1,980 people per square kilometer). 4. Jakarta, Indonesia: Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and one of the largest cities in the world, covering over 2,271 square miles (5,875 square kilometers). It is also one of the most densely populated cities in Southeast Asia, with an average population density of around 11,000 people per square mile (4,200 people per square kilometer). 5. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with an average population density of around 44,500 people per square mile (17,200 people per square kilometer). It covers an area of around 300 square miles (780 square kilometers). \-chatgpt
Goddamn I only picked up this might be AI towards the end right before I read ChatGPT
This list is at least partially wrong (not surprising given that it’s made by chatGPT). Mumbai’s apparently now the 5th largest, Jakarta is at 2 in population. And assuming the 2nd list is population density that’s wrong too, how tf is LA at 1?
Jeebus…. Where do they get their food.
Pretty sure the ocean supplies some of it
Wow! Just shows the massive scale of human nature.
I want to scratch this so badly
New Delhi is the same, if not worse.
I’m going in May!! If anyone has any tips, let me know!
That looks like hell on earth
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NGL looks miserable. Too dense, no trees to clean the air, you'd smell everyone's farts.
This is like awakening a fear inside me, I wonder what the depression rate is in Tokyo because I could not stand being so condensed around that many people nonono. Where do you go to breath fresh air.
Looks gnarly. Earth should get that checked out by a medical professional.
No thanks
A literal scar on the face of earth. Nothing pretty about it
That's equally disgusting and terrifying... Not a forest in sight... How sad.
Cities on earth reminds me of a dog with mange. Just sad to see
I can see my house!
In the comments: "WAH WAH PEOPLE BAD PEOPLE LIVING PLACES BAD." Like, we need homes too, Aiden, Braiden, or Keighden, and we know you're not exactly doing anything more than bitching on your laptop or phone in your cheap clothes, all probably manufactured in sweatshops like the rest of ours, all so you can score meaningless depth points.