Well, they tend to be denser. But you're still talking a lot of single family houses.

Fair enough. It's just that when I think megacity I think actual urban areas going on for miles and miles. Suburbia doesn't really count. ;)

That picture is of the Pudong area of Shanghai, a prime example of how to make a new urban area with no concern for those who will live there. Wide boulevards with level crossings coupled with drivers who don't respect traffic lights do not a liveable city make.

My first thought when I saw that was, "why not just smuggle a nuke into the city instead of trying to punch through with an ICBM?" Or even easier, just release an airborne nerve agent.

There's more to infrastructure than next-day delivery, telecommuting and high-speed Internet. Fire protection and ambulance services, garbage service and so forth become very costly in suburbia.

Agreed. HK has more than twice the population density of NYC if you correct for the 70% protected parkland. No problems really. The Mong Kok area has more than ten times the density of NYC but it is very far from a Judge Dreddian nightmare. Nice place to shop actually.

In HK, private yards are exceedingly rare. However we have an enormous amount of public green space, from public parks to the protected parkland that makes up 70% of the territory. Many buildings also have playgrounds, pools and gardens.

Lots of people do just that all over East Asia.

As someone who lives in one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, I don't see the problem. Hong Kong is 70% protected parkland so there is plenty of greenery within easy reach. Public services are good to excellent. Public transport is pervasive, safe and efficient. The feeling of community is high in many…

Agreed completely. As a resident of the city in the first pic, I can report that it all works rather well too.

It's all right to have an opinion. What makes your opinion somewhat useless to the rest of us is that you write something insulting without even giving a reason.

Yep! We're still here, all 7.5 million of us. :)

Depends how you define it. Large parts of the NY metro area are in New Jersey and Connecticut so they aren't technically part of NY.

If we crank up New York's current density to three times its current state, the only cities we can compare it to are ones like Dhaka, in Bangladesh, which are riddled with shantytowns.

Troy Rising by John Ringo: The Glatun, an alien race encountered by humanity, use 'fabbers' that can produce everything they need. The only scarce resource in their society is the helium required to run the fabbers.

"KIDS, GET OFF MY LAWN!"

Darth Vader was named "Dark Vador" in the French dub.

Foreflight if you're a general aviation pilot in the US. The app itself is free, but subscription to the service starts at US$75/year, with the $150/year "Pro" option adding features like real-time taxi tracking with runway incursion warnings. The usefulness of this app cannot be overstated.

One could argue that such a robot might be as much of an individual as a human being, making the distinction rather academic.

Robots have their place, but they have two major problems.