Ask HN: What if we built new cities with a strictly limited footprint?

What if a cities were built up instead of out? What if were so small you could walk from one end to the other in 25 minutes, but it still occupied +100,000 people?

I've been thinking about this "micropolous" a lot lately, and I think it would have a lot of advantages.

1) No cars. Enough said there. 2) The micropolous would be surrounded by a large green loop, so even if the city itself were packed closely with tall buildings, everyone would have access to plenty of outdoor space. 3) If streets are only used for walking, they can be taken over on weekends tables and chairs for cafes, bars and restaurants, or for kids to play in, thus making the city really fun to live in. 4) A lot of the things governments have to do don't really scale well because of distance. Maintaining roads, sewers, water mains, mail delivery, trash pickup, police patrolling, school bussing, etc. are all made incredibly complicated and expensive because they have to serve each and every building over a wide area. Limiting the distance limits what city governments must do (ie less government and less taxes without less service). 5) Since the micropolous have such a small footprint, they can been squeezed into some pretty nice areas, like in a lush valley, or between a mountain and lake so denizens can easily ski in the winter and relax on the beach in the summer.

Who wants to move to my new city?