The view from Faber Point in Singapore makes me think of the Matrix's view of pod city. The verticality is reportedly government-mandated as building owners will be re-zoned from 10-story to 20-story, and everyone on that block will have to build up or sell. Apparently, the government also demands a 50%-of-building-value expansion fee, and sometimes people wonder where all that money has gone.
I bet they're developing mega-crawlbots to manage all the people pods.