32.000.000 (Japan, 2004-2005)
Japan is rather mountainous, and has relatively little land on which to build. That has led to a number of extremely densely populated areas, of which the Tokyo-Yokohama agglomerate is the best example. With 35 million inhabitants and an area that is demarcated by mountains and the sea, it is a question of making the most of the space. Besides the sky-high real estate prices, this fosters an architecture that gets the most out of what room there is. Meichsner does not investigate just buildings of this sort; he also looks at the social effects go along with the population density, trying to feel at home while having to watch every square inch.
