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作者

Petter Næss;Inger-Lise Saglie;Tim Richardson

来源

EUROPEAN PLANNING STUDIES,Vol.28,Issue.1

语言

英文

关键字

作者单位

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway;Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway;Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

摘要

Urban densification has for some decades been considered as the most relevant strategy for ecological modernization within the field of urban spatial development. Compared to outward urban expansion, densification has important environmental merits, but is not without negative environmental impacts. This paper critically examines how urban densification policies contain an assumption – implicit or explicit – that continual growth, expressed in per capita consumption of building stock and infrastructure, should be accommodated. This is argued to lead to a weakening of environmental sustainability. The Norwegian capital Oslo is used as an example, illustrating the environmental achievements and limitations of the densification strategy. These achievements and limitations are then discussed in the light of theoretical literature on tensions between economic growth and environmental sustainability. The paper concludes with a call for further critical scrutiny of how growth assumptions influence/subtly shape urban sustainability policies.