American cities have largely followed a model of highly expansive and low-density urban development. With the rise of the automotive industry and investments in the road and highway network, suburban housing became the archetype of the American way of life, with homes amidst vast green areas, located increasingly farther from the foundational urban centers and business and service cores. Aerial View of Los Angeles. Source: Cory Doctorow As a result of this process, the metropolitan areas of the United States have a population density (inhabitants/square kilometer) lower than cities of comparable sizes in other continents around the world. The following graphic compares the five largest metropolitan areas in Europe and the United States. Own elaboration. Data source: Demographia World Urban Areas Report The difference is even more drastic when compared to the largest metropolises in Asia. As seen in the next figure, the most comparable Asian metropolitan area to the American cases is