Issues which the lecture addresses

Serious concerns with global warming have been translated into urgent calls for increasing urban densities, as higher densities have been found to be associated with lower carbon emissions from both vehicles and buildings. Still, attempts at effective densification have generally failed and urban densities, the world over, continue to decline. Calls for densification without making room for it has resulted in serious housing supply bottlenecks in many cities and have rendered their housing unaffordable.

Short analysis of the above issues

Shlomo believes that for affordable densification to be successful, we must better understand the anatomy of density or the factors that constitute urban density. They propose a novel way to decompose the average density of cities into three and then into six factors that when multiplied together reconstitute urban density. They present the methodology and the ensuing preliminary estimates of our measurement of these factors in ten pilot cities in ten world regions. Such decomposition into factors allows us, for the first time, to begin to understand how different cities acquire their density: Hong Kong, for example, gets its density from building height; Kinshasa from crowding; and Dhaka and Bogotá from residential coverage. The anatomy of density offers a new outline for a comprehensive making-room strategy for city densification, addressing each and every one of the six factors that constitute urban density.

Propositions for addressing the issue

Solly Angel introduces 5 principles as the conclusion towards a comprehensive strategy for making room for city densification. These are 1. Increase the Occupancy Rate, 2. Increase Floor Plan Efficiency, 3. Increase Building Height, 4. Increase Plot Coverage, 5. Increase Residential Share. For the Compact City Paradigm to remain relevant in the coming years, it must embrace making room. Otherwise, it will continue to disappoint, while precious time is squandered.