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It depends on the country really. By American standards, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle wouldn't be "big cities" there. But place them in NZ or Australia, they are considered "big cities".
It depends on the country really. By American standards, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle wouldn't be "big cities" there. But place them in NZ or Australia, they are considered "big cities".
Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the US. It's considered big.
Here is a list of all the Urban areas in the world with a population greater than 1,000,000. I would consider anything larger than 2 million a "Big" city. 1-2 million I would consider a medium sized city. What do you guys think, where would you stop on the list? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population
I would say 5 million plus in the metro area is a big city. If it is densely populated, then 3-4 million.
Both are right.
For a typical North American city, the population needs to be somewhere near 4-5 million to feel like a big city. In Europe, a city with more than 1 million people feels already like a big city. (all in metro population).
Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the US. It's considered big.
the post is "feels" like a big city. Phoenix is the oppsite of it, whether it has 5 million people or 15 million.
What does "feel like a big city" mean? Usually it means the city centre vibrancy, large number of pedestrians, public space, continuous streetwalls (could be skyscrapers or dense midrises). A city with a lot of cars, streets with one or two story buildings and strip malls won't feel like a big city. It just feels like a big mess.
Most cities with good public transport systems feel bigger, especially undergrounds, metros and train systems often linking many parts of the city and indeed suburbs .
Cities with numerous boroughs and ethnic areas also feel bigger and more diverse.
The size of the city is as important as the population. Sydney has some 5 million people but it's such a big city in size that it feels very small and lacks virtually any density outside the city centre. Meanwhile, Vancouver if a population of 600,000 is more than 100 times smaller in size but has more density as a result and feels "bigger" considering the space alloted to it.
the post is "feels" like a big city. Phoenix is the oppsite of it, whether it has 5 million people or 15 million.
The post this was in response to specifically said that phoenix isn't considered big within the US, slightly off the original topic. It was not in reference to how big it feels.
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