THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
| Attributes | San Francisco | Shanghai |
| Population of the metropolitan area | 6,000,000 | 12,000,000 |
| Number of family units | 2,246,000 | 3,500,000 |
| Average size of the family unit | 2.61 | 3.30 |
| Metropolitan area (km2) | 18,000 | 6,000 |
| Population density (pop/km2) | 333 | 2,000 |
| Population of the central city | 724,000 | 6,000,000 |
| Area of the central city (km2) | 121 | 300 |
| Population density in the central area (pop/km2) | 5,983 | 20,000 |
| Number of bicycles | 2,000,000 | 7,000,000 |
| Number of cars | 4,000,000 | 340,000 |
| Cars per persons | 664 / 1,000 | 28 / 1,000 |
| Share of cycling | 1.0% | 33.0% |
| Share of walking | 10.0% | 20.0% |
| Share of public transit | 7.5% | 40.0% |
| Share of driving | 81.5% | 7.0% |
| Average daily usage of public transit (M) | 1.5 | 15.5 |
Data is for 1993.
The above two tables underline differences in transportation / land use strategies, which are sometimes conflicting. For instance the goal of having a high quality of the urban environment may conflict with minimizing transportation costs and the impacts over the environment. One of the most important difference lies in density. Shanghai has twice the population of San Francisco (1993), but its metropolitan area is only a third.