Does Density Matter?

Since World War II, economic and demographic forces, possibly along with the consequences of earlier housing and infrastructural policies, 1 has flattened the population - density gradient in metropolitan areas across the United States, while presumably reducing the vitality and dense social networks associated with most traditional city centers. In response, planning ideologies that are hostile to "unplanned", low - density development and that seek to promote high - density, pedestrian - and environmentally friendly communities have been developed to combat these trends. But do scholars who study cities even understand the nature of cities well enough to formulate policies that impact cities in a positive way?