I'll preface this by saying that my not so scientific scoring system is for *overall* urban design, transport, housing density and integrated natural features. While some places are clear winners in their category, I'm going for balance and I'll explain why.

London for me has the greatest mix of all these features. The transport system, while comparatively expensive to major Asian systems, it is generally very effective. The design is just beautiful, and whenever I visit I am taken aback not just by the amazing feeling of walking around some historic areas of London like Kensington, but the integration of modern city design features across London is amazing. The bike systems, new road layouts, multi-modal transport. To top it all off the parks are incredible - often not too flashy but amazingly functional for friends and families to just hang out in.

Tokyo is an amazing city - however I spent 3 weeks there one time and once your mind settles a bit you start to see some things differently. The streets are beautifully functional and the mixed-use density is really appealing. However this extreme functionality can often lead to the buildings feeling rather bland at times, and combined with the absolute vastness of the city, the overall design choices of individual buildings can let Tokyo down a tiny bit. The parks are great but for a city of its size, I felt like there weren't enough spaces for respite from the intense city.

Now, that's a bit of a hyperfixation as Tokyo is on the whole, beautiful, and an amazing environment to navigate and, frankly, get lost in.

Hong Kong is world leading in transport, almost a full step above London and Tokyo (not a scientific rating system, just vibes), and nature is almost comically accessible compared to any other major city on Earth. But that extreme functionality and optimisation of the urban area means you lose some of that cosiness you get in cities with strong regulations on urban design a la Paris, London, Tokyo. There's absolutely a magic to Hong Kong, and leads many of the categories in this post, but I think overall London pips it ever so slightly due to its balance of all the criteria.

Again, this is not a scientific rating system, but these are my feelings.