Mumbai, New Delhi more densely populated than New York, Tokyo: Survey

A new survey has revealed that despite its relatively low-rise urban landscape, Delhi has a density that is twice the levels of New York and Tokyo. Incredibly, Mumbai has a population density of 20,680 people per square kilometre and a population of 12,655,220, the 8th highest in the world

While Delhi has an average density of 19,698 people/sq km, New York stands at 11,531 people/sq km, including high-rise Manhattan and Tokyo has an average density of 11,025 people/sq km.

The result of this high density is that Delhi has only 2 sq metres of green space per person while lower density London and Berlin, with front and back gardens and extensive parks, have 36 sq metres and 39 sq metres of green space per person respectively.

Delhi's high density also poses the challenge of tackling its average PM10 pollution levels, which are significantly higher than other urban cities across the globe.

The research was carried out by Urban Age research, developed by LSE Cities, a research centre at the London School of Economics supported by Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society.