Transport for Suburbia

4

The Compact City

 

Why Not Control Land Use?

If urban traffic is a function of land use, then it follows that land-use planning is the key to sustainable transport. If low population densities cause autopia, then high densities will reverse the trend. This is the reasoning behind the idea of the compact city.

The proposal is not new. The Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) canvassed it half a century ago, citing unnamed writers who ‘argue that the suburban dweller should be prevented from stretching out into quarter acre lots because a high density, compact city would be more efficient’. So ‘why not control land use and density so as to control the level of mass transportation usage?’ The study team’s answer was that people prefer dispersed ...