Barcelona, Europe’s most densely-populated city at about 36,000/km2, is an enormous tourist drawcard. How can that be if high pop’n density is undesirable..?

Possibly the most densely populated city on the planet (effectively 300,000 per km2)

In London, when one thinks of rush hour in Oxford St or Knightsbridge, it is easy to assume that such places are always crazily congested.  But these apparently high population densities are misleading because the vast majority of those rushing cannot afford to be residents of these areas because the adjacent residential streets are so expensive – no, most are there for shopping or working purposes or they are tourists.   Then there is the additional fact that motor vehicles are forcing the pedestrians to walk on crowded narrow pavements (side-walks). 

Car-free = Carefree..!

The perceived crowdedness of modern cities is largely due to the dominance of motor vehicles – the space they occupy, and the constant and relentless NOISES they emit.   When streets are dedicated to human use – and pedestrians are not forced to walk fast on narrow pavements (side-walks), all the while being careful not to step in the roadway, the feeling of being crowded – and the associated STRESS – is considerably reduced.

But keeping undesirable motor-vehicles at bay is not enough to create a totally tranquil and safe city environment.   Undesirable people also need to be kept at bay.  In Western countries most big city centres have very lovely botanical gardens and expansive parks with beautiful mature trees, pretty ponds with ducks and swans and other water fowl, boating lakes, smart cafes, etc.   Although these provide an environment superior in many ways to the blandness of most suburban “green spaces”, they are nowadays considered totally unsafe for unaccompanied children and even, increasingly often, for adults too unless in numbers or accompanied by a fierce-looking dog.   After dark, unless the gates are locked and patrolled by guards, they become the haunt of undesirable characters, a situation which should be totally unacceptable for any advanced society.