Urban form and climate change

Abstract

Cities come in all shapes and sizes. The idea that these different shapes – whether sprawling like Los Angeles or dense like Manhattan – can play a role in determining the environmental impacts of urban areas is an idea that is gaining currency in both popular and scientific circles. This article will attempt to highlight the role that the ‘urban form’ of a city can play in either attenuating or exacerbating the production of greenhouse gases. ‘Urban form’ is a term that has been developed to describe the physical composition of a city. It encompasses an urban area’s density (inhabitants/hectare), its mix of land uses (divisions between residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), its provision of transportation options (public transit facilities, auto-related infrastructure) as well as the degree to which urban development is contiguous or ‘scattered’ around the edges.