That might be a kind of extreme position, but I think you're right that they would be looking for slightly higher population densities in general. In Japan it

That might be a kind of extreme position, but I think you're right that they would be looking for slightly higher population densities in general. In Japan it's kind of forced on people because the country is so mountainous. You only have so much flat space to work with and you have to balance the needs of living, farming and manufacturing. People who want to live all by themselves can move up into the mountains where you are basically surrounded by nature. For me, I live in a small town. There are about 20K people in this area, although the official city is quite a bit bigger (it encompasses 3 towns and the intervening mountains for efficient administration purposes). I live in an apartment building, but that building is literally in the middle of a rice field. The whole town is a mix of farms, tea fields, manufacturing plants (including some very famous ones, even though we are in the middle of nowhere) and houses. Even though a lot of people refer to this town as being sh*t rural (literal translation -- kuso inaka), it actually has a population density of a typical suburban neighbourhood in North America. Even with that population density, I can walk for 20 minutes or so and be in a nature preserve where nobody lives. This is pretty typical here. Farms are small. People live in towns and villages that are fairly tightly packed and surrounded by mountains. Even in fairly large cities (say around 700K or so), it won't take you more than about 15 minute of walking from the inner city to hit your first farm. I know a lot of people love big city life, but I'm not one of those people. I like living in a neighbourhood that is self contained and has a local flavour. I like knowing my neighbours and seeing them daily as they walk or bike to work (again fairly unique Japanese culture -- most people never change jobs, so they can easily live near their workplace). Even more, I like travelling and exploring my surroundings because there is something interesting in every nook and cranny. Ironically, the difficulty in travel and the geographical separation of towns makes it possible to to "travel" 10 km and be a tourist. I personally think that the people advocating the "modern city" are on the right track, even if I don't always agree on everything. However, I can understand why it is a hard sell in Canada and the US (I shouldn't lump in Mexico here, because I know nothing about it).