In 1975, Tokyo was the largest city in the world with 28 million people. Interestingly Osaka Japan was second with 16 million. New York City came in third with 15 million, which was virtually the same amount the same number of people it had in 1975 when the top of the world’s population.
According to ArchDaily, the most visited source of knowledge for those who will imagine, design, and build our future world, in 2021 Tokyo was still the largest city in the world, now with 37 million people.
But Delhi, India is now the #2 most populated city with 32 million people. Curiously, Delhi was not even in the top 10 in 1975. Mumbai and Kolkata were both in the top 15 most populated cities in 1975 but are not in the top ten in the 2021 listing.
Istanbul is the only city in Europe to make the top 20. Paris, Rome and London are all in the 2550 range.
One thing that gives me pause is New York City. In 1975 it’s listed as having a population of 15 million. In the Arch listing for 1920 for 2021, it says New York City only has 8 million people. Could that be true?
Slays us to the question of are these numbers metro numbers or city proper numbers? The disparity between the 1975 in the 1921 numbers leave me to believe that Delhi‘s numbers in 1975, in the 8 million range or city proper. 2021 numbers or metro area of 37 million makes you wonder what decisions were made based on these numbers . Just another day on a planet.