Wednesday, June 15, 2005
The Challenge of Densification
It is accepted planning lore that ‘urban sprawl’ is inefficient use of land and the answer to creating more sustainable cities lies in densification: either from subdividing smaller lots, terraced housing or mixed dwelling developments. This seems to hold for both crowded islands such as Britain and enormous landmasses like Australia.

For the former, more sprawl means open space comes at a premium. For the latter, a steady supply of land allows its profligate and wasteful use, resulting in inefficiencies that make Australians some of the most resource and energy intensive people in the world. South East Queensland (SEQ), the centre of habitation in the State, has a population density of approximately half that of South West England, still a relatively rural area. As a consequence, Australians are the highest per capita producers of greenhouse gas.

---