I live in a London suburb. My suburb has about 300k. I can walk to the local town centre, three major train stations one of which is 20 minutes on the train from a major international airport. I can also walk to any number of tram stops, or take a bus. From the largest nearby stations, I can also reach central London in 15 minutes (two separate terminals), and any number of other city centres.<p>The main difference with this vs. when I lived in Oslo, in a city of ~500k and a metro area of maybe 3-4 times that, is that in London I have the same amenities nearby, within walking distance or a short bus ride away, but I also have a vastly larger selection of all kinds of things: Tens of times as many theatres with accordingly larger selection; tens of times as many night clubs or bars; tens of times as many museums, most of which are larger, and many of which cover subjects not covered at all by museums in most smaller cities. In terms of business I have access to a pool of people that is tens of times larger, and equally a market within a range where I can get in a taxi to go see them face to face that is tens of times larger.<p>That&#x27;s what density brings.<p>So yes, my local suburb is like a city. But I can pop over to any number of other places that are also like their own cities in 15-30 minutes, and that makes a big difference to having greater distances.