Density & Compactness

Chapter 4: Density & Compactness (in Developing and Developed Countries)

4.1. Introduction

There always different rates of urban growth between developed and developing countries and between different world regions. Burges explained the difference between developed countries where the problem is not the high rates of urban growth. The economic growth, the rise in living standards and increased consumption levels have brought on dramatic increases in per capita demand for land, energy, food and fresh water and, increases of a similar magnitude in the production of wastes and pollutants (Burges ,2004 qtd. in UNCHS, 1996) . He add that the rapid loss of agricultural land and natural habitats (around 2% per decade in Western

Until 2000, super-tall buildings were mostly 100 storeys tall and were recognized more as local landmarks. However, for the past seven to eight years since 2000, the height of the buildings increased significantly, and there are five ultra-high-rise buildings (i.e. building over 1000m) in progress. Thus, our society should be socially and environmentally prepared for this change to adopt high-rise buildings as part of the vertical city (Ng, 2010). There are many examples of high rise development; one of these implementations is the

It is widely used within discussions of urban form, but generally relates to the range of processes which make an area more compact. They mentioned what Lock suggests about intensification as a process which ‘ensures that we make the fullest use of land that is already urbanized, before taking green fields. Roseth, however, describes intensification in terms of urban ‘consolidation’, which he defines as ‘the increase of population and/or dwellings within a defined urban area'. His distinction of an increase of both population and built form is useful here, as many of the arguments indicating the link between compact urban living and sustainability rely heavily on higher densities of people, as well as of buildings (Schoffham& Vale, 2005). Urban intensification is embedded in UK strategies for sustainability. It must be recognized that the combination of policies and extent of their implementation should be given attention. There are a number of important arguments within some of the issues affected by intensification that need to be considered. These are: - The spatial effects of urban intensification, urban image and vitality, social impacts and service