Urbanization, Population Density, and Overcrowding: Trends in the Quality of Life in Urban America

This paper explores changes in the quality of life as reflected in household density, and the possible association of household density with rates of pathological behavior. Data were drawn from the 1940–70 Housing Censuses to analyze changes at the national level, and by region, race, and setting (central city, standard metropolitan area, and farm) in median number of persons per room and percent of households with more than one person per room. Results indicated that crowding is, for the nation as a whole, on the decline; that households in central cities and SMSAs are no more crowded than the national average; that serious overcrowding is greater on farms than in other locations; that regional differences in household densities are diminishing; and that a majority of black households, though they have higher densities than whites, are gaining ground relative to whites, although a minority of black households are falling behind the density declines of both groups. The fact that household densities in central cities are not especially high compared to other locations combined with the marked improvements in household densities since 1940, suggests that this form of density does not account for increases in pathological behavior.