Introduction- Compact cities and sustainable development

There is a widespread belief that compact urban development contributes to sustainability. Sustainability is seen by many as an essential requirement for human survival on planet Earth. Space consumption by urban development has become a major concern, but throughout the world. The reasoning is that compact cities, developed at higher densities and with a mixture of uses, affect sustainability. Compact Cities and Sustainable Urban Development is the third in a series of books dealing with several aspects of urban development and sustainability. The compact city has been espoused as a counter strategy: to reduce the spread of low density urban development and to preserve the countryside. Prescriptions concerning the form that recentralized, compact urban development should take vary from urban infill and moderately higher densities in existing community centers, to major restructuring of cities.