Density is a key concept in urban research and theory, yet also much confused and abused. A main source of confusion in the analysis of urban densities, is that the spatial scale of measurement has a major impact on the outcome. From the scale of an urban block to that of a metropolitan area, densities can decrease a hundred-fold. Variations in the size of administrative and statistical districts can strongly bias comparative studies. For large metropolitan areas, the conventional average density measure obscures local concentrations, that are relevant for the urban experience, walking and public transport. Addressing these issues, a multi-scalar approach for mapping and measuring density is proposed, that captures concentration patterns in cities at scales relevant to everyday life: the micro-spatial scale of direct sensory experience, the meso-scale of walkable neighbourhoods, and the macro-scale of metropolitan areas. Demonstrating this approach, the Metropolitan Walkable Density (MWD) and the Urban Experiential Density (UED) are mapped and measured for cities in North America, Australia and Europe, based on census data. These multi-scalar approaches capture concentrations at scales that relate to how we access and experience the city. The findings show that lived densities vastly differ from conventional simple averages.

密度是城市研究和理论中的一个关键概念，但也经常被混淆和滥用。城市密度分析中的一个主要混淆来源是测量的空间尺度对结果有重大影响。从城市街区的规模到大都市区的规模，密度可以降低一百倍。行政区和统计区规模的变化会严重影响比较研究。对于大都市地区，传统的平均密度测量掩盖了与城市体验、步行和公共交通相关的当地集中度。针对这些问题，提出了一种用于绘制和测量密度的多尺度方法，该方法以与日常生活相关的尺度捕捉城市的集中模式：直接感官体验的微空间尺度，步行街区的中尺度，以及大都市区的宏观尺度。为了展示这种方法，根据人口普查数据，绘制并测量了北美、澳大利亚和欧洲城市的大都会步行密度 (MWD) 和城市体验密度 (UED)。这些多尺度方法捕捉到与我们如何进入和体验城市相关的尺度上的浓度。研究结果表明，生活密度与传统的简单平均值有很大不同。这些多尺度方法捕捉到与我们如何进入和体验城市相关的尺度上的浓度。研究结果表明，生活密度与传统的简单平均值有很大不同。这些多尺度方法捕捉到与我们如何进入和体验城市相关的尺度上的浓度。研究结果表明，生活密度与传统的简单平均值有很大不同。