> Manila (most dense city)
This comment doesn't take away from your point - but isn't densest either Dhaka or Mumbai?
Apparently not, Manila is considerably more dense than both, at least unless I'm reading the table wrong:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_population...
Woah! If that is true... wait. I see that they've shrunk the square-mile definition of "Manila" proper in this table.
That makes sense. Thank you for the reference.
You know - it's funny. Paris rates above Hong Kong (which does not even appear in the table), and Paris never felt (to me) as dense as HK. Even Manila never felt (to me, subjectively) as dense as HK.
However, your argument is not valid: Large size doesn't imply high cost. Neither Shanghai (most populous city) nor Manila (most dense city) have higher costs of living than SF.