That’s the nature of dynamic systems. You probably cannot tease those apart. The overall point is that there has always been a drive to push people into cities

That’s the nature of dynamic systems. You probably cannot tease those apart. The overall point is that there has always been a drive to push people into cities (otherwise they’d collapse due to mortality rates). The overall rate of urbanism and urban change has fluctuated over the millenia, but it’s hardly new in any meaningful way. Hence my assertion that anyone living close to a growing metropolis should not be surprised if the density overtakes them. They might not like it, that’s perfectly reasonable. But expecting things to not change in your area only is actually quite unreasonable in the long run.