The urban densification

“A significant amount of the planet’s land surface has been altered by land-use activities, including the conversion of natural landscapes for human use and the modification of land management methods. Nearly all economic activity requires land as a necessary capital for development. Globally, land degradation has been escalating and getting worse since the 20^th century as a result of the deteriorating ecological environment, increased food demand brought on by rapid population growth, the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, and the unreasonable development and exploitation of land resources by people.

Land take in urban areas of the EU increased by 3581 km² in the period between 2012 and 2018. Increasing land take and soil sealing make Europe’s ecosystems less resilient, with negative impacts on biodiversity and weaker potential for climate change adaptation. Such impacts can be expected to have a negative effect on the quality of life including people’s well-being and health care along with increased social costs associated with the provision of public infrastructure in European cities.

Without any alterations in policy, urban settlements will encompass 4–5% of the world’s acreage by 2050 and over 70% of inhabitants would dwell in urban areas.”

For more details about the suject:

Chakraborty, A., Omrani, H., & Teller, J. (2022). A Comparative Analysis of Drivers Impacting Urban Densification for Cross Regional Scenarios in Brussels Metropolitan Area. Land, 11(12), [2291].