It's better. Not much, but it at least seems after you kill some guys the respawn happens somewhere pretty far away and you are clear for a while. And with the "territory takeover" aspect, once you gain control over an area it seems like there's a far better chance of encountering friendlies rather than enemies on the road. Or just civilians. Things that never seemed to happen in 2.
"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy
Like Chambers said, once you take control of a region, it'll be mostly friendlies there from then on. If you go into enemy territory, then you're going to find plenty of random hostiles--they get more numerous near enemy outposts, near radio towers, and on the roads between those two.
If you take out 2-3 guys, they won't respawn as soon as you turn your back. But if you return that way later, there might be a new patrol there--or not.