An analysis is made of the association between density factors and the profile of cause specific death rates in small areas (Bezirke) of Hannover, Germany, in 1968-69. Evaluation of urban ecological methods and logic is done to determine the plausibility of making meaningful statements about cause specific death risks due to areal attributes. Efforts are made to develop an appropriate multiple indicator structural equation model to determine if underlying patterns of mortality can be discerned. Evidence is found that measures of crowding, apart from classical density, predict a general mortality component.