Abstract
Urbanisation is one of the most significant global megatrends and, as a result, major cities are facing multiple challenges. In this study, we contribute to the sustainable urban development debate and examine the relation between housing density and infrastructure costs. The analysis is based on four hypothetical design prototypes and a consistent cost calculation framework. Based on the results, infrastructure costs per capita are the highest in low-density areas and the lowest in high-density areas, if parking is excluded. However, if also construction costs of parking structures are included, the costs per capita are the highest in high-density areas. Considering the notably high cost impact of parking structures and people’s limited willingness to pay for parking, municipally zoned parking requirements in urban areas are likely to result in non-optimal land use. Furthermore, construction in poor soil conditions may only be considered feasible if the floor area ratio and residential densities are relatively high. Beyond the cost benefits, the number of residents that may be accommodated is crucial and higher density in central urban locations should be promoted. We also suggest the cost of urban greenness to be reasonable relative to its many reported benefits and conclude that denser urban structure should not be pursued at the expense of green spaces.
Highlights
Urbanisation is one of the most significant global megatrends and, as a result, rapidly growing cities are simultaneously facing great opportunities and new kinds of challenges
Leaning on Finnish urban planning framework, this study addresses this gap in the knowledge and contributes to better understanding of economic feasibility of different land use options by analysing their sensitivity to floor area ratio, residential density, requirements for parking and soil conditions
In order to add on the knowledge, sensitivity to following factors were included in the analysis: Floor area ratio, residential density, ground conditions, number of parking spaces and supplementary green spaces
Summary
Urbanisation is one of the most significant global megatrends and, as a result, rapidly growing cities are simultaneously facing great opportunities and new kinds of challenges. Economies of agglomeration are associated with positive production gains [1] Such positive gains are beneficial to urban residents as, for example, a large job market in urban locations provides better opportunities for employment. The leading idea is often that climate change calls for more effective land use and improved service networks in an attempt to reduce GHG emissions from transport and housing. Many studies support this view, discussing the opportunities that density offers for more efficient energy use and lower GHG emissions [7,8,9].
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