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Nature in urban planning is a constantly fluctuating concept, which is manifested in attempts by designers to define a good living environment and its green spaces. The transition from the Finnish forest town to the compact city between the 1950s and 1970s represents a paradigm shift which epitomizes a change in the notion of nature. Although the concept of both the forest town and compact city pursued wellbeing and quality, the ideas about appropriate methods for urban planning varied substantially. The forest town of the 1950s fostered the idea of preserving the landscape in its natural state, and landscape design introduced the aesthetic and social values of nature to urban structures. In the compact city phase in the late 1960s, the constructed urban green and networks of social contacts in efficient grid plans replaced the natural environment. The site-sensitive approach of the forest town was replaced by quantitative instructions on green spaces and requirements for playgrounds. In Finland, post-war residential planning has been mainly studied from the perspective of urban planning and architecture. However, less attention has been paid to how forest towns and compact cities relate to nature and landscape design, or to the contributions of the landscape architects who worked alongside the architects. Nevertheless, nature and green spaces are an integral part of these urban ideals. Our article explores landscapes in forest towns and compact cities, and examines meanings and their societal contexts assigned to nature by urban planners and landscape architects. How was the welfare state and its urban planning ideals conceptualized and materialized in landscape design? Using two case studies in Helsinki - Keski-Vuosaari forest town and Itä-Pasila compact city - we examine these two urban ideals that appear contradictory in numerous ways. We aim to diversify the understanding of these concepts and elucidate the interpretations, in both eras, of nature as a source of wellbeing. We demonstrate that the representations of nature in sparse and dense cities are not contradictory and mutually exclusive, but complementary. We also discuss how the transition from forest town to compact city is reflected in today's urban planning discourse and in the current struggle between sparsely and densely built urban structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compact city is globally acknowledged as the most adequate urban model to encourage sustainable urban development. Its validity is often assumed, despite the lack of clarity on what such compactness entails. The knowledge gap is even wider regarding how different drivers and pressures influence the development of more compact cities. Therefore, the authors analyse indirect and underlying processes (drivers) and more direct events, actions, and processes (pressures) affecting compact city development. Since compact city driving forces are extensively influenced by local situations, their research focused on district-level case studies within the compact city of Barcelona Municipality. Mixed methods were used, and the authors used both qualitative and quantitative data. The results revealed that drivers and pressures can both support and counteract compact city qualities and therefore any intervention has to be tailored to local conditions. In particular, the results of the in-depth analysis of local pressures and their progression over time foster an understanding of context-related nuances, thereby shifting attention from taken-for-granted compact city qualities to the driving forces that produce beneficial compactness. The authors conclude that the diversity of drivers and pressures requires the involvement of a multiplicity of stakeholders and actors in urban planning, implementation, and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary urban life has been shaped by two momentous shifts over the twentieth century: these shifts are increasing global mobility and increasing housing density, and both have required changes to personal approaches to dwelling. They have been pronounced in Australia, which has moved from an imperial‐colonial century to an Asian century in just over 100 years. Coupled with compact city policies in some regions, increased international migration has resulted in urban populations becoming more ethno‐culturally diverse, and encouraged urban residents to live in closer proximity to each other. Such trends are evident in the expansion of apartment living in cities. In the academic literature, each of these global shifts has been addressed separately, with much less attention being given to the two together. This oversight is especially the case in places where these changes are experienced most profoundly—private multi‐owned residential buildings that many and growing numbers of urban residents call home. The oversight is concerning because successful apartment living requires sustained participation and cooperation—how we dwell with each other matters. Without such forms of engagement and courtesies, apartment communities cannot run effectively or cohesively in terms of associational participation in management or of the everyday encounters of social life. Arguably, because global mobility is now so pronounced, engagement and civility require that people are respectfully observant of ethno‐diversity. Yet our review of the existing literature on multicultural encounters and participation in multi‐owned private apartment buildings suggests the need for more research on the intersections among global mobility, housing density, and apartment living. This paper begins to bridge this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This study analyzed the relationship between urban CO 2 emissions and economic growth. • Data covered 276 metropolitan cities in 26 countries for the years 2000, 2005, and 2008. • Inverted U-shape relationship between urban CO 2 emissions and economic growth was observed. • The turning point of inverted U-shape curves is different among sectors. Abstract This study analyzed the relationship between urban CO 2 emissions and economic growth applying the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. The objective of this study is to investigate how urban CO 2 emissions and their composition have changed with urban economic growth, depending on city characteristics, using a dataset of metropolitan areas. We obtained data for 276 cities in 26 countries for the years 2000, 2005, and 2008. The dataset includes urban CO 2 emissions, GDP, and population. Additionally, data regarding compact city variables are applied to determinants analysis using an econometric approach. The results demonstrate an inverted U-shape relationship between urban CO 2 emissions and urban economic growth. Additionally, an inverted U-shape relationship is observed for the transport and residential & industry sectors. However, the turning points of each inverted U-shape curve varies. This result implies that we can better understand urban policies for reducing urban CO 2 emissions by considering the characteristics of each sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the reform and opening up, the urbanization rate in China has risen about 40% from 1978 to 2016, and it has been rapidly advancing at a rate of 0.5 percentage points higher than the world average each year. In the process of city booming, there inevitably exist problems such as extensive land use, urban sprawl and excessive energy consumption. In recent years, environmental pollution such as haze caused by excessive energy consumption has impacted seriously on the life quality of urban residents, and the problem is even more serious in large cities. In western countries, it has been proved that compact city is an effective development mode in alleviating energy shortage and environmental pollution in large cities. However, the concept of compact city has not been given enough attention in China. In this paper, we focused on the relationship between energy efficiency and compactness. The energy efficiency and compactness of 29 large cities during 2003- 2014 were measured with superefficiency- DEA model and entropy value method, and then quadrant map approach was introduced to explore the relationship between urban compactness and energy efficiency. The results showed that energy efficiency was relatively low but was increasing slowly. The regional disparities of the relationship between urban compactness and energy efficiency were significant. The eastern part of China mainly had high coordination relationship, while the middle and western part of China mostly had low coordination relationship. From the perspective of the scale of cities, larger cities had higher energy efficiency. As the city size increased, the proportion of high coordination type became higher and higher. Megacities mostly fell into the categories of high coordination, and small cities mostly fell into the categories of low coordination. The quadrant diagram analysis after eliminating other possible affecting factors showed more obvious result that more compact city had higher energy efficiency. To improve the energy efficiency, multi-functional composite utilization of economy humanity and ecology should be realized by putting more investment into the construction of public service facilities and infrastructure, intensifying industrial land use and perfecting the functional system of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the publicly accepted concept of 'smart growth' of urban areas and its wide implications in developed countries, there is less concern about this in a newly emerging economy like China. Yet, due to the unprecedented urbanization rates in many developing countries, how to control unordered urban sprawl is becoming a severe challenge to multiple levels of governments. This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the spatial and temporal change of vacant land within the built‐up area of a large city in China. We used the core city of Shanghai as a case‐study to systematically investigate the spatial–temporal distribution of vacant land at the fine scale. The boundaries of vacant land patches and of other urban land use types were delineated using visual interpretation, based on 0.3‐m resolution aerial photos collected in 2000, 2005, and 2010. We find that (a) vacant land plays a very important role in the composition of the urban landscape of central Shanghai, accounting for 9.3%, 11.3%, and 10.4% of the core city area in 2000, 2005, and 2010, respectively; (b) there exists obvious spatial–temporal change of transformation between vacant land and other land use types during the 10 years studied; and (c) the considerable amounts of vacant land and its change dynamic have important policy implications for smart growth of cities in China. Making the best planning and management decisions about these vacant lands might be one promising smart growth principle for China's cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban growth and development caused by urbanization influence the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. With the rapid development of urbanization, China's major cities are facing more serious climate change problems, especially the UHI phenomenon. Proper planning and urban design of compact cities may improve the ventilation of street canyons and change the heat balance in the urban canopy and thus mitigate the UHI phenomenon. The aim of this study is to evaluate and discuss the mitigation of UHI with different types of land-use and land-cover (LUCC), as well as different development patterns for compact cities. To this end, we applied the weather research and forecasting model (WRF) with urban canopy model (WRF/UCM) in this study. To evaluate the impact of LUCC changes on the UHI, we set 2 cases based on land use and land cover statistical data from 1965 and 2008 of Wuhan. Also, to evaluate the impact of urban morphology changes on the UHI, we designed 2 hypothetical cases based on 2 different urban developing patterns, one is high rise case and another is high density case, to simulate the impact of urban morphology on the UHI. As for the results of this study, with different LUCC of 1965 and 2008, UHI intensity of Wuhan increased by 0.2 °C–0.4 °C in average. Moreover, the critical wind speed which can mitigate UHI of case 1965 is much lower than case 2008. With different urban morphology, the high-rise case may lead to lower UHI intensity at the pedestrian level due to the shading effects of high-rise buildings. However, the critical value of wind speed in the high-rise case was almost 1.5–2 times greater than that of the high-density case, which illustrates the reduced possibility of mitigating the UHI phenomenon for high-rise buildings in Wuhan City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of urban brownfield redevelopment in navigating and enhancing energy transition in the built environment by conducting a case study of three city districts in Freiburg: Rieselfeld, Vauban, and Gutleutmatten, which have emerged from previously-developed lands used for sewage farm, army barracks, and inner-city allotment, respectively. It contributes to unpacking the social structure of planning system by analysing the dichotomy of structure and agency in the process of energy transition with particular focus on domestic energy use, both related to transport and in-dwelling use. The aim is to bring to light a new aspect of the complex relationship between brownfield redevelopment and energy transition by addressing the co-evolutionary interaction between structure and agency. The results show that the energy transition in the brownfield sites in Freiburg has been possible by gaining a broader agency for changing or reproducing the existing structure for planning and urban design. The broader agency was facilitated by two factors: the effective interaction and co-evolution between different elements of institutions: regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive; and the introduction and enactment of schemas (rules) across different sectors of urban design, energy, mobility, and civic participation. However, it is hard to transfer the outcomes of energy transition in the targeted sites to other places because of the unique temporal and socio-spatial context in which the transition has taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

District heating systems using cogeneration technology and renewable resources are considered as an effective approach to resources conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, widespread aging and depopulation problems, as well as the popularization of energy-saving technologies in buildings, are estimated to greatly decrease energy consumption, leading to inefficiency in district heating and barriers to technology proliferation. From a long-term perspective, land use changes, especially the progression of compact city plans, have the potential to offset the decrement in energy consumption that maintains the efficiency of district heating systems. An integrated model is developed in this paper based on building cohort analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility and environmental impact of introducing district heating systems to a long-term compact city plan. As applied to a case in the Soma Region of Fukushima, Japan, potential migration from the suburbs to the central station districts is simulated, where district heating based on gas-fired cogeneration is expected to be introduced. The results indicate that guided migration to produce concentrated centers of population can substantially increase the heat demand density, which supports a wider application of district heating systems and better low-carbon performance. These results are further discussed in relation to technology innovation and related policies. It is concluded that policies related to urban land use planning and energy management should be integrated and quantitatively evaluated over the long-term with the aim of supporting urban low-carbon sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-density urban forms are often considered more livable than compact ones. Yet, studies investigating the relationship between compact cities and livability do not take into consideration the importance of public transport, accessibility and mix of land uses along with high densities. Moreover, direct comparisons of livability between the compact city and its alternative, urban sprawl, are scarce, and even more so in a European context. Investigating the metropolitan area of Oslo, which encompasses both compact and sprawled areas, this study examines the impact of the compact city on livability by employing neighbourhood satisfaction as a livability measure. Three different methods are used: cross-sectional regression analysis, longitudinal comparisons and qualitative analysis. Cross-sectional results indicate that compact-city residents are significantly more satisfied with their neighbourhood than those who live in sprawled neighbourhoods, even after controlling for sociodemographic and other variables. Longitudinal analysis based on residents who have lived in both neighbourhood types confirms this finding. This study also examines the impact of compactness within a wider range of urban form typologies and finds that the higher the density, the higher the neighbourhood satisfaction. Important components of the compact city – public transport, accessibility to city centre and land use mix – demonstrate a positive association with neighbourhood satisfaction. Findings from this study suggest that, when common urban problems are addressed, and when planned to integrate all its essential characteristics, the compact city has a positive influence on livability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a decrease in the population of Japan. If urban areas continue to expand to the suburbs with this depopulation, various urban problems will arise including increase in energy consumption and the cost of developing and maintaining infrastructure due to high dependence on car use in daily life and inefficient development and maintenance of urban infrastructure. To address this, a compact urban structure is proposed corresponding to the decreasing population especially in provincial small towns. However, it is not clear where denser urban areas are expected and how much of the population will remain located there. Consequently, this study aims to examine a preferable future population distribution pattern from the viewpoint of CO 2 emissions and infrastructure costs in Fuchu City, Hiroshima Prefecture, a provincial small town. This study quantitatively assesses the reductive effect of such a population compaction on CO 2 emissions and infrastructure costs. Results reveal that creating a compact urban structure will reduce CO 2 emissions and infrastructure costs, and the effects differ widely based on scenarios. Furthermore, the study considers the effects of “population density in a compact district,” “population balance among inside and outside of compact district,” and “central place of compact district” on CO 2 emissions and infrastructure costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal relationships are among the most influential factors for achieving a happy life. Yet, there is insufficient empirical evidence on the role of the built environment in social life and personal relationships. This paper investigates how the urban form affects social life and personal relationships by applying structural equation models to survey data collected in Oslo metropolitan area. Results indicate that residents of compact neighborhoods are significantly more satisfied with their personal relationships compared with residents of low-density suburban neighborhoods. Shorter distances to the city center, higher densities, and mixed land uses are found to positively contribute to overall social well-being. Path analysis as well as qualitative analysis suggest that compact urban forms enable residents to maintain larger networks of close relationships, socialize more frequently with friends and family, receive stronger social support, and enjoy increased opportunities to make new acquaintances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impervious surface cover increased in Bangkok by ∼ 474 km2 from ∼ 2004 to ∼ 2018. • Space-for-time substitution approaches can predict future vegetation dynamics. • ∼583 km2 of grassland and ∼ 94 km2 of rice-fields were lost; tree-cover grew by ∼ 137 km2. • Expansion, not densification, drove these changes — raising heat stress & flood risk. • Densification drove substantial tree-cover loss, reducing ecosystem services, & biodiversity. • Schemes promoting urban growth through densification must increase tree protection. Fine scale spatial and temporal patterns in land-cover dynamics arising from rapid urbanisation of tropical regions are poorly understood. We quantify changes in landcover across the Bangkok region using high-resolution aerial imagery from ∼ 2004 to ∼ 2018 and address three questions: i) does urbanisation generate temporal shifts in the form of vegetation cover-urbanisation intensity relationships?, ii) do urban expansion and densification generate different vegetation dynamics?, iii) do net changes in vegetation cover and loss vary with urbanisation intensity? The form of vegetation cover-urbanisation intensity relationships exhibited negligible temporal variation, supporting the use of space-for-time substitution approaches for predicting future landcover dynamics. During our study period impervious surface cover increased by ∼ 474 km2 and there were net losses of grassland (∼583 km2) and rice-fields (∼94 km2), and a net gain in tree cover (∼137 km2). These changes have substantial implications for urban heat islands, flood risk and biodiversity. Urban expansion contributed more to vegetation dynamics than densification, partly because expansion impacted more land. Densification minimised loss of green-space, grasslands, and agriculture (rice-fields), but generated substantial local tree cover loss, which is critical to retain in highly urbanised areas. This contrasts with increasing tree cover elsewhere, including areas experiencing urban expansion. Trade-offs thus arise between impacts on different vegetation types when meeting the demand for tropical urban development through densification or expansion. Densification benefits most vegetation types but must be accompanied with tree protection and planting schemes to balance these trade-offs and minimise detrimental impacts of densification on people, ecosystem services and biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the importance of neighbourhood uses and local scale in everyday life and to contribute to the Compact City debate, this paper defines, measures and analyses proximity travel in Barcelona. Data were taken from the mobility surveys in Spain, which offers the depth required to identify journeys within neighbourhoods. These allowed analysing proximity dynamics, along with the frequency with which Barcelona residents rely on local scale in their daily mobility. During the final stage of the study, we evaluated the degree of proximity uses for defined areas similar to neighbourhoods, simultaneously testing the importance of density and income in local scale dynamics.

Since the intensification of the search for sustainable urban planning, the ideal of the compact and green city characterized by high density, mixed land use and attractive green infrastructure, has become a desirable urban form at global scale. Urban greening, including urban gardening, has experienced a resurgence of interest. Within the frame of the compact city, the meanings, forms and functions of urban gardening have been re-evaluated for their contribution to urban sustainability, turning those spaces into a contested subject of negotiation. This qualitative study, conducted in the Swiss cities of Basle, Berne, Geneva and Zurich, investigates how the meanings of urban gardening are discursively (re)produced in political negotiation processes and how different rationalities of space produce a hegemonic order, constructing urban gardening sites as contested spaces. The findings demonstrate that urban growth strategies within the frame of the compact city, aiming at an efficient and resource-saving (re)organization of urban space, are discursively rationalizing current transformation processes. While so-called traditional forms of urban gardening are closed down, displaced to locations with less significance for urban development plans, or transformed in spatial and functional terms, new forms of urban gardening commensurate with the current ideals of urban landscapes and are emerging in the inner-city areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the South Korean case to directly identify the factors that affect local governments’ policy instrument choices for achieving the compact city concept and test whether these policy tools lead to low energy consumption and environmentally friendly urban areas. The results of binary logistic regressions show that local governments’ socio-economic characteristics and their locations influence the implementation of compact city-related urban policy instruments. The results of hierarchical linear models suggest that there are strong positive associations between greater urbanization and both transport-related energy consumption and transportation-sector greenhouse gas emissions. These results indicate that urban planning for optimal city size, significant compact city characteristics and effective policies with sufficient financing can help reduce transport-related energy consumption and air pollution. Therefore, we need innovative urban planning policies and policy implementation processes to achieve energy efficiency and air quality improvements in the urban context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the urban sprawl paradigm, residential land use exhibits a more significant growth than other categories. Consequently, large proportions of the natural environment are converted to residential areas, particularly in tropical countries. Compact urban development is one of the most sustainable urban forms with environmental perspectives, such as rural development containment and natural environment preservation. However, no proper investigation of the relationship and influence of residential growth and city compactness is available. This study evaluated and forecasted the residential development of Kajang City in Malaysia based on compact development. First, the relationship between residential land use change and city compactness was evaluated. Second, residential growth was projected by utilizing the land transformation model (LTM) and the statistical-based weight of evidence (WoE) using various spatial parameters. Both models were evaluated with respect to observed land use and compactness maps. Results indicated that most of the newly developed residential areas were in zones where the degrees of compactness increase during certain periods. In addition, LTM performed better and provided a more accurate modeling of residential growth than the WoE. However, WoE provided clearer and more informative results than LTM in terms of functional relationships between dependent and independent variables related to city compactness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An important driving force behind urban expansion is the growth of the urban population. But for Europe, this is not a sufficient explanation. The major trend is that European cities have become much less compact. Since the mid-1950s European cities have expanded on average by 78%, whereas the population has grown by only 33%. In the PLUREL project - an integrated project within the EU’s 6th Research Framework Programme - more than 100 researchers from 15 countries analysed the impacts of urban land consumption at a pan-European level and, through six European and one Chinese case studies, identified how land use conflicts and the pressure towards periurban areas can be strategically managed in different development and regulatory contexts. To summarise, the following strategies were identified as important steps towards more sustainable urban-rural futures: (i) better coordination of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification – development of a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance at the regional level while at the pan-European level there is clearly a need for more policy attention to be given to urban-rural linkages.

Urban policy plays an important role in urbanization and urban sprawl, which in turn affect changes in CO 2 emissions from urban areas. However, urban planning policies that consider climate change mitigation have not been widely adopted, despite the issue's importance. To promote the consideration of climate change policies in urban planning, it is useful to identify the key determinants of effective climate change mitigation for policy makers. The objective of this study is therefore to identify the determining factors that affect changes in urban CO 2 emissions based on city type using a dataset of metropolitan areas. We obtained data on 276 cities in 26 countries for the years 2000, 2005, and 2008. We divided the data into five regional groups and four clusters to control for the characteristics of metropolitan areas. The dataset includes urban CO 2 emissions, GDP, and population. Three variables related to urban characteristics are subjected to determinants analysis using an econometric approach. The results show that the determinants of changes in urban CO 2 emissions differ by city type and region. These results contribute to a better understanding of urban policies that can improve the effects of these driving factors by considering the characteristics of each city type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author conducts a critical analysis of the main discourses of sustainable cities, such as the "ecocity", "compact city", "low-carbon city", "green city", "sustainable city", and "smart city", based on the materials of meta-analysis of Russian and foreign academic publications. It is concluded that each of these concepts reflects a certain degree of socio-economic development of society, and the changing needs of its citizens. Despite the fact that there is no consensus among scientists on the conceptualization of these forms of urban sustainable development, different definitions of environmentally sustainable cities are not mutually exclusive. The author has established that the concepts of "eco-city", "sustainable city" and "green city" are symmetrical "umbrella-type" concepts. Narrower concepts such as "low-carbon city", "smart city" are concentrated on some individual dominant discourse of stability. At the same time, all the metaphors of urban sustainable development are "ideal types", and they are not lacking limitations, therefore the author concludes that it is more correct to comprehend the city in terms of "transition" to sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the transition towards the compact city model in Australia, which has become the orthodoxy of metropolitan planning in the last two decades. This transition is aligned with neoliberal policies through which private investment and the marketplace have become dominant in driving urban growth and change. However, an intensive review of the experience of Sydney and Perth shows that a metanarrative of transition from a social-democratic to a neoliberal form in metropolitan planning is an oversimplification, and blurs the redeployment of state powers, processes and institutions to address new challenges. The paper explores two related points. First, it demonstrates how a methodical examination of the eclectic mixture of policies designed to drive the compact city transition can enable the identification and analysis of shared policy trends across the two cities. These trends relate to metropolitan strategies, transport planning, infrastructure funding, centralization and local input. Second, it demonstrates how such a review can also provide broader insights into the contours of the political economy of the compact city, and the potential significance for its citizenry. Key insights relate to who has a say in development control, growing executive power, increased government engagement with lobby groups and growing inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dealing with population decline and aging society is one the main challenges in Japan. The Japanese government aims to increase the quality of life of child-rearing households so as to ultimately increase birth rate and participation of females in the working market. Compact city policies and the Location Optimization Plan, recently proposed by the Government, are among the urban management measures adopted to support achieving this goal. Within this context, the purpose of the present research work is to investigate influencing factors on the increase of child-rearing households. Characteristics of child-rearing households in a local district of Sapporo city were explored, initially. Household micro data was estimated for the years of 1995 and 2010 by using Census data, Person Trip data as well as one available micro data simulation methodology. Analysis of the generated data showed that 25 of the total 90 Census zones presented an increase in the number of child-rearing households. Multiple Regression Analysis was then performed to explore the correlations between the increase in child-rearing households and factors related to building characteristics, land use types, and distance to urban facilities. Preliminary results suggest a negative correlation between the increase in child-rearing households and each of the building age, distance to elementary schools and commercial facilities. While it seems reasonable that newer buildings and shorter distances to schools (including nurseries) and supermarkets could help easing the daily activities of working parents, several other factors should be explored. The presented analysis can support government plans towards improving neighborhoods with a focus on child-rearing households, which in turn could help increase the birth rate and the number of two-worker households in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact-city planning factors are commonly applicable even to metropolitan areas. In most cases, however, planning policies based on theses factors fail to consider that travel patterns are not uniform in each metropolitan area. Furthermore, the travel pattern of inter- and intra-municipality that results from spatial interaction between a central city and its various sub-centres and suburbs in a metropolitan area has not been fully explored. A consideration of the specific urban system could therefore provide an answer to the question of why certain factors have different effects on the transit modal split and car travel distance between municipalities of a metropolitan area. The aim of this study was therefore to find an effective way to establish compact-city planning policies in municipalities of the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA). An investigation of the changed travel pattern in each municipality based on the changed relationship between transit modal split (TMS) and intra-city trip ratio by car (ITR) between 2006 and 2010 found that the SMA became more car-dependent: TMS and ITR of the municipalities declined together, and ITR decreased much more in the outskirts. Based on the relationship between the two factors, the effects of changes in land use and transportation were estimated using a combination of cluster and regression analysis. This revealed that, in municipalities of Seoul and its adjacent sub-centres, there is a need to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) by creating high-density areas within close proximity to city railroad stations. In contrast, it is necessary, in municipalities on the outskirts of the SMA, to restrict large-scale developments, such as large retail centres, and instead promote a mixture of self-sufficient land uses. In the intermediate municipalities that lie between these two, TMS and ITR can be increased through TOD near railroad stations, or ITR alone can be increased through a greater mix of land use. These findings could assist in implementing effective compact-city planning policies in each municipality of the SMA, and could also be applied to the other metropolitan areas in Korea or elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study undertook a quantitative analysis of town master plans to define future urban growth. Spatial direction and intensity of urban expansion were analysed in relation to local contexts using land zoning and a comprehensive database of socio-economic indicators at the municipal scale in Catalonia, Spain. Our results illustrate a progressive shift towards discontinuous settlements consolidating urban centres in most accessible rural areas. Contrary to what was hypothesized (and partly observed) in recent decades, settlement expansion will modestly contribute to a balanced urban spatial structure. Future urban development in Catalonia will not follow a polycentric model, fuelling instead the growth of medium and small urban centres. This process may consolidate the incipient divide in rural areas with high accessibility and a dynamic economic base with remote inland areas experiencing land abandonment and depopulation. The use of indicators derived from town master plans in the assessment of (scattered or polycentric) future urbanization in Europe is finally discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imperative to transform car-dependent cities for a low-carbon future requires that we engage with the challenge of increasing densities along existing road-based transit corridors – within the constraints of existing morphologies. Such corridors are often lined with small lots that are valued for their functional mix and urban character. This paper explores the degree to which small and narrow lots constrain urban intensification through a study of tram corridors in Melbourne. We examine the impact of site area, shape and access conditions as constraints on re-development and increased density. We find that small and narrow lots have not prevented intensification that is substantial in its accumulated effect and contributes more to urban character than large lot re-development. The paper discusses the relations of urban morphology to questions of car-dependency, development capacity and resident resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth of urban areas and abandonment of rural areas are phenomena that increase quickly. The main consequences of urbanization are pollution, consumption of resources and energy, waste dumps, and junk yards. These aspects require a better planning and design of European urban metropolitan areas, considering benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (B.O.C.R.), derivable by urban transformations and available resources. The paper consists of five parts. The first part contains some reflections on consequences of urban sprawl. In the second part, some possible kinds of cities are discussed (sustainable city, smart city, and compact city). The third part briefly describes a multicriteria decision-making approach known as the 'analytic hierarchy process' to deal with complex decisions. In the fourth part, alternative city models are analyzed (compact city, elevated city, green house city, and water city). Finally, in the fifth part, the criteria selected for the planning and design of the alternative city models are used for the prioritization of some European cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital collection of historic aerial photography, held by the Department of Geography at the University of Oviedo, has proved to be an important resource when analyzing the processes of urban development. Imagery helps us identify the different pieces of urban fabric in their context, and furthermore, to understand how the process of change unfolds. Photo interpretation techniques are used in order to detect the spatial pattern of the new urban developments. Gijón, in Spain, is a very good example of a Southern European city. Generally, these cities tend to be denser than those in Northern Europe or even in North America. Even today the outskirts in South European cities are not synonyms of low-density residential zones. The built-up area in Gijón has increased over the past decade; as a result, several examples of new urban developments are available today, from densification and suburban infill to urban regeneration policies. The new districts Nuevo Roces and Viesques are pointed out to explain the relationship between urban form and social sustainability. Physical factors such as compact building forms, cycling lanes, surrounding green areas and walkable neighborhoods are complemented by other aspects like social housing, public transport connections and urban design with mixed land use in order to achieve socially-compatible urban areas. To sum up, our proposal involves the use of historic aerial photography with the purpose of gaining effective knowledge on new urban developments in Gijón. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]