Most Urban: Singapore vs Chicago (Baltimore, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit)

[Ice Cream Man]

Compare and contrast Singapore to Chicago in terms if urbanity. Criteria.......

Transit, walkability, density, etc.

[marothisu]

I was in Singapore just less than a month ago and live in Chicago. Lucky me.

I think the answer here is Singapore. Although Chicago has a lot of high rises, so too does Singapore. I believe Singapore almost has 3 times as many, what qualifies as..high rises than Chicago. NYC actually doesn't have that many more complete high rises than Singapore believe it or not.

On a side note, I prefer Chicago as a city. Singapore is pretty cool but I found it lacking in some character that other cities have.

[marothisu]

By the way, here's a list of who has the most completed high rise buildings in the world (12 stories/115 feet or higher):

1. Hong Kong - 7896
2. New York City - 6504
3. Sao Paulo - 6467
4. Singapore - 4764
5. Caracas - 3864
6. Moscow - 3754
7. Seoul - 2955
8. Rio de Janeiro - 2947
9. Tokyo - 2779
10. Toronto - 2511
11. Istanbul - 2439
12. Mumbai - 2299
13. Delhi - 1805
14. St. Petersburg - 1770
15. Buenos Aires - 1870
16. Kiev - 1531
17. London - 1478
18. Osaka - 1463
19. Mexico City - 1364
20. Madrid - 1127
21. Chicago - 1125


For fun..here's US cities:
2. New York City - 6504
21. Chicago - 1125
48. Los Angeles - 504
54. Honolulu - 439
55. San Francisco - 417
58. Houston - 360
63. Philadelphia - 330
64. Washington DC - 330
70. Miami - 295
78. Dallas - 246
81. Arlington, VA - 232
82. Atlanta - 231
85. Seattle - 222
88. Denver - 204
91. Minneapolis - 192
93. Detroit - 170
96. Baltimore - 159
97. Pittsburgh - 151
98. Miami Beach - 150
99. St. Louis - 150
100. San Diego - 149
103. Fort Lauderdale - 136
105. Las Vegas - 135
107. Portland - 129
108. Cincinnati - 126
110. Austin - 119
111. Cleveland - 111
115. Milwaukee - 114
116. Nashville - 114
117. Kansas City - 112
118. New Orleans - 107
120. Newark - 100

[rnc2mbfl]

Been to both within the last two years. Chicago
Certainly Singapore has lots of high rises but it doesn't feel urban to me. It feels like a high-rise resort.
I don't measure urbanity just by counting high-rises. Singapore is sterile and pristine and like a giant luxury shopping mall. It doesn't hold a candle to the intricate and intimate experience that is Hong Kong and can't touch the diversity of the Chicago neighborhoods.

As for the list of cities, Miami does pretty well for a city of less than 36 square miles of land. Given that Miami Beach also makes the list starts to tell the real high-rise story in MiamiDade County.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Certainly Singapore has lots of high rises but it doesn't feel urban to me. It feels like a high-rise resort.
I don't measure urbanity just by counting high-rises. Singapore is sterile and pristine and like a giant luxury shopping mall. It doesn't hold a candle to the intricate and intimate experience that is Hong Kong and can't touch the diversity of the Chicago neighborhoods.

I definitely agree with everything you said here. I guess I was rating it in a shallow way. If we go building wise, then yeah Singapore is more packed and what not, but I agree the character of the city is lacking. It doesn't have as much character as people think. I liked the Kuala Lumpur area a lot more actually even though it's a less "global" city as Singapore. There are "dirty" parts of Singapore though, or I have been told by numerous people who have lived there. But eh. I'd actually rather live in KL than Singapore even though I would probably need a car for most of KL. I was also surprised at how expensive things in Singapore can be.


Here is a picture I snapped of the CBD in Singapore. Note: I am the photographer of this photograph.