Quote:
Originally Posted by Wooster
Except in no way is it possible that the 705 sq km # could be close to accurate regarding the city's actual built area. Calgary, which comprises about 90% of the population of the CMA is right around 500 sq km built area.
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The density figures are inconsistent between cities and not very useful for comparison. If you look at the census tract maps you will find that some include large undeveloped areas and others do not. Similarly, some cities with broken up geography include large amounts of undeveloped or commercial land while others do not.
Another factor that is not mentioned very often is that only residences are included in the population counts. You don't often see much about parkland, industrial, or commercial land use.
What the census tracts are useful for is looking at changes over time within a fixed area.