evidence: It’s often said that England is the most densely populated large country in Europe – typically in discussions about the nation’s rising population, and the growing strain on public services. But it’s not true. [...] But we can get further clarity still by honing in on "built-up" density, which takes into account only those 1km² areas with people living in them. I call this figure "lived density", since it provides a way of seeing the kinds of population densities that people experience in their day-to-day lives, within built-up areas. [...] When we look at "lived density" across Europe, it’s fair to say that England is a densely populated country – but it still sits behind Spain and the Netherlands on the list of major European nations, and below the microstates of Monaco, Andorra and Malta. The lived density figure for the Netherlands is 546 people per km², compared to 531 for England, 204 for Wales, 200 for Scotland and 160 for Northern Ireland.