Are Compact Cities a Desirable Planning Goal?
- 31 March 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the American Planning Association
- Vol. 63 (1) , 95-106
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01944369708975727
Abstract
This paper considers some key issues that help to evaluate whether or not the promotion of compact cities is a worthwhile planning goal. These are: the pressures on prime agricultural land; residential density preferences; energy resource savings; the potential for expanding transit use and promoting TODs (transit-oriented developments); the costs and benefits of suburbanization; the efficiency gains from compactness; the impact of telecommunications on the density of development; the prospects for downtowns; the influence of rent-seeking on the promotion of downtown projects; the social equity of compactness; and the effects of competition among cities. Our evaluation of these issues does not support the case for promoting compact cities.Keywords
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