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Density and the built environment

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  • Gordon, Ian

Abstract

The densities with which urbanised regions are occupied can have a significant impact on energy use and emissions, via the patterns of personal mobility that are enabled and encouraged. The potential for using this variable as a tool for environmental regulation is limited, however, for two inter-related reasons. One is that actual densities are an outcome of complex processes of individual choice over which planners have little direct control. The other is that planning operates only at the margins of physical development, with much slower and more modest impacts on the behaviour of the population as a whole than would changes in relative transport costs, in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon, Ian, 2008. "Density and the built environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4652-4656, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:12:p:4652-4656
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel J. Graham & Stephen Glaister, 2002. "The Demand for Automobile Fuel: A Survey of Elasticities," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 36(1), pages 1-25, January.
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    1. Ahmad, Sohail & Puppim de Oliveira, Jose A., 2016. "Determinants of urban mobility in India: Lessons for promoting sustainable and inclusive urban transportation in developing countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 106-114.
    2. Rowangould, Dana & Eldridge, Melody & Niemeier, Deb, 2013. "Incorporating regional growth into forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions from project-level residential and commercial development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1288-1300.
    3. Mike Hodson & Frank W. Geels & Andy McMeekin, 2017. "Reconfiguring Urban Sustainability Transitions, Analysing Multiplicity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Ishii, Satoshi & Tabushi, Shoichi & Aramaki, Toshiya & Hanaki, Keisuke, 2010. "Impact of future urban form on the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from residential, commercial and public buildings in Utsunomiya, Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4888-4896, September.
    5. Chih-Hao Wang, 2020. "Does compact development promote a seismic-resistant city? Application of seismic-damage statistical models to Taichung, Taiwan," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(1), pages 84-101, January.
    6. Peter Newman, 2014. "Density, the Sustainability Multiplier: Some Myths and Truths with Application to Perth, Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Felipe Livert Aquino & Xabier Gainza, 2014. "Understanding Density in an Uneven City, Santiago de Chile: Implications for Social and Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Mörtberg, Ulla & Goldenberg, Romain & Kalantari, Zahra & Kordas, Olga & Deal, Brian & Balfors, Berit & Cvetkovic, Vladimir, 2017. "Integrating ecosystem services in the assessment of urban energy trajectories – A study of the Stockholm Region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 338-349.
    9. Figueroa, Maria J. & Nielsen, Thomas A. Sick & Siren, Anu, 2014. "Comparing urban form correlations of the travel patterns of older and younger adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 10-20.
    10. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Wood, Lisa & Hine, Julian & Currie, Graham & Giles-Corti, Billie & Turrell, Gavin, 2014. "Patterns of social capital associated with transit oriented development," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 144-155.

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