Understanding Density and High Density

Physical density is a numerical measure of the concentration of individuals or physical structures within a given geographical unit. It is an objective, quantitative and neutral spatial indicator. However, in practice, physical density takes on a real meaning only if it is related to a specified scale of reference. For instance, density expressed as ratio of population to land area can vary significantly with reference to different scales of geographical unit. Take Hong Kong as an example: if the land area of the whole territory is taken into account, the overall population density in Hong Kong is about 6300 persons per square kilometre. However, only about 24 per cent of the total area in Hong Kong is built up. Therefore, if the geographical reference is confined to built-up land, then the population density will be about 25,900 individuals per square kilometre, which is four times the overall density of the territory. Hence, it is important that the scales of geographical references be explicitly defined in density calculation, otherwise comparison of density measures will be difficult. Nevertheless, there is no standard measure of density; there are only measures that are more widely used than others. In town planning, measurement of physical density can be broadly divided into two categories: people density and building density. People density is expressed 1 Understanding Density and High Density