Compact Development (New Urbanism)

Benefits of Compact Development

The proclaimed benefits of compact development are numerous. One is the preservation of open space and farmland from the encroachment of urbanization. Another advantage is that it can reduce automobile dependence by making homes, shops, and places of employment all more easily accessible by foot, bicycle, or public transportation. Third, compact development is seen as reducing per capita resource use, both through reduced automobile dependence and by offering smaller homes and yards than are found in the typical suburban home. In addition to its environmental benefits, compact development is claimed to foster economic benefits by creating revitalized urban economies and by making more efficient provision of infrastructure. Finally, it is seen as improving quality of life by creating more vibrant and safer urban areas; providing urban residents with attractive, convenient places to shop and recreate near where they work and live; improving civic culture by promoting social and economic interactions between people; and increasing social equity.

However, recent research has complicated these widely held assumptions about the benefits of the compact city. For example, although compact cities have been found to increase opportunities for public transportation and to reduce the use of greenfields for new development, these benefits may not be as straightforward as is often asserted. First of all, taken alone, increased urban density has been found to have a much smaller-than-expected effect on single-occupancy vehicle use. Though much of the data are inconclusive, some studies have shown that an individual's income affects vehicle use more significantly than the density of the area in which they live. A second common critique is that compact development often does not live up to its goal of improving social equity and may actually exacerbate inequity, depending on the specifics of the compact form. Both of these critiques raise important challenges for proponents of compact development, many of whom admit that they need to examine the outcomes of existing efforts of compact urban development more carefully and incorporate these findings into future designs.

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