Urban population density
distributionFactors affecting population density
Factors affecting population
densityTransport factor
Socio-economic factor
Historical factor
Institutional factor
Transport factorPopulation tends to cluster in area of high
accessibility, usually the city centre, provided by converging transport routes.
Transport factorImprovement in accessibility through transport development may enhance geographical mobility
It facilitates various urban processes like rural-urban migration, suburbanization and counter-urbanization (re-urbanization).
Socio-economic factorIt involves the comparison of transport cost and
land rent
Socio-economic factor
The greater the distance from the city centre, the greater the transport costs incurred
Land rent is lower due to less keen competition of land (large supply of land in the periphery of the city)
Low land value encourages lower intensity of land use for residential purpose (low-density residential houses)
Occupying larger space (e.g. detached houses with gardens)
It gives rise to the formation of low-density high-income residential suburbs
Socio-economic factor
Low-income groups tend to live closer to the city centre for more immediate access to their working places and lower transport costs
However, the high land value forces the low-income group to live in small units of land
Forming high-density low-income residential area near the city centre (slums in the inner city)
Sheung Wan
Historical factorDue to historical process of urban development, there would be a tendency for higher density development in old urban areas
It is probably the result of high housing demand in the old days
Institutional factor
Government policy can influence the population density of a city in terms of
Urban planning / land use constraints lower population density in some areas
New town programmes + industrial decentralization population decentralization in suburbs
Urban redevelopment programmes population regeneration in old urban areas
All these may reduce the population density gradient more even distribution of population
Yuen Long
Tung Chung
Tsuen Wan
Tai Po