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Jackdaw99 t1_j477906 wrote

Reply to comment by Labor_Zionist in [OC] Top 15 cities with the highest population density by giteam

Can you explain? On the face of it, it seems obvious that building vertically simply creates more living space. If you have a 10,000 sqft block, building a 50 story tower will clearly provide more space than using it all for single-family homes, especially since people who live in apartments are generally used to less space than people who live in houses -- or even shacks.

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ScumBunnyEx t1_j4883ux wrote

Bnei Brak is a city in the greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area that is home to mostly Ultra Orthodox Jews. Being that it's mostly a low income community there isn't too much vertical building (skyscrapers are more common to high income and business areas like Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan), but due to their typically high birth rate (in average over 6 kids per household) the population density there is still incredibly high as large families share small, cramped apartments.

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The_Bamba_Tinok t1_j48ukkg wrote

What you should also keep in mind is that Ultra Orthodox Jews cannot use elevators on Saturdays as that would contradict their strict Sabbath-observance laws, thus making building with over four stories unviable for this community.

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Labor_Zionist t1_j47cen6 wrote

A major part of the space in a city isn't dedicated to residential buildings, but to utilities- roads, parking schools, supermarkets etc etc. Roads is the most major issue with skyscrapers - streets in Manhattan are as wide as highways.

There is also the matter of space between buildings - Skyscrapers usually require some empty space around them, while smaller buildings can be built without any space between them at all (what we call in Israel "Train blocks").

Skyscrapers do allow to cramp more living space overall, yes, but they aren't that much more efficient. Manhattan is still one of the most densely populated places in the world, but cities like Bnei Brak with buildings 4 stories tall can still compete with it, if they house more people per apartment.

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