[McBane]

I haven't followed the posts on this thread (they usually veer off topic or focus on a specific city after a while anyway). But getting back to the original premise, this article doesn't share initial baselines. Here in America, where we have so much sprawl, we blindly cheer density as a good thing.

But some cities, especially those in the developing world, were super dense to begin with, to the point it was unsanitary and uncomfortable. Cairo and Calcutta are two cities that saw density decreases. But from where those cities were in 1988, I'm certain the decline in density was welcomed. And even still, it's doubtful that these cities are experiencing American-type sprawl with SFH on large plots of land.