VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

European countries have had a faint population growth in the 21st century, but urban land has grown at a fast pace. This has caused a high land consumption, also known as “urban sprawl”, which according to academia is more present in high-income countries. Consequently, the European Union has established the goal to achieve no net land take by 2050. To do so, a better understanding of where sprawl happens most and what other factors it is related to is needed. Therefore, the research quantitatively analyzes urban land use in Europe, its evolution since 2000, and the transformation of urban land. It also relates these elements with economic and demographic factors, to know if there are relevant correlations. Research is conducted in three scales: paneuropean, national and urban areas. Thanks to the quantitative analysis, it detects which countries and urban areas perform more efficiently.
Research concludes that urban land take in Europe takes place mainly out of urban areas or in small and medium urban areas. Land take does not relate to population growth, but it does relate to economy: lower-income countries and countries with faster economic growth take more land. Noneteheless, more land transformation does not mean less land take. Therefore, the paper recommends to incentivize the reduction of land take in lower income countries, and to promote land transformation policies in order to help achieve the aim of net zero land take.