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Although many argue that cities around the world are moving towards automobile-dominant, low-density sprawl, a comparison of the Toronto region with other cities of similar size in developed countries shows a wide variety of metropolitan development patterns. Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid, for example, are relatively compact and less automobile-oriented than their peers, while Atlanta and Houston have a fraction of Toronto’s population density and litde public transit use. Toronto. Montreal and Vancouver are considerably more dense than the U.S. cities shown here, similar to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Automobile use is higher in the Canadian cities than in the European cities and lower than in the U.S. cities shown. Although high transit use is not directly related to higher densities, low densities do undermine transit and non-motorized travel. The form and travel patterns of Toronto and other Canadian cities reflect different histories and policy choices than the European. Australian, and U.S. cities shown here. This creates different challenges and opportunities for their futures.
