Table 5 The contribution of the compact city to the three goals of sustainability

Environmental sustainability

• Lowering per capita rates of energy use and CO2 emissions through district-wide energy utilization and local energy generation

• Conserving energy by combining heat and power provisions made possible by population densities

• Lowering energy consumption and reducing pollution due to the proximity to workplaces, services, facilities, and public spaces

• Reducing car dependency and thus CO2 emissions through promoting a walking and cycling environment

• Decreasing travel needs and costs and shortening commute times

• Minimizing the transportation of energy, materials, water, and products, thereby reducing CO2 emissions due to the compactness of the built form

• Optimizing the efficiency of public transport by promoting transit-oriented development in built-up areas

• Limiting the consumption of building and infrastructure materials

• Reducing the pressure on ecosystem services and biodiversity provided by green and natural areas

• Limiting the loss of green and natural areas

• Protecting rural and agricultural land from further development through the optimum use of land resources

Economic sustainability

• Supporting local services and businesses through population densities by providing a larger customer basis for commercial activities

• Revitalizing city centers through the promotion of densely built dwellings, shops, businesses, and accessible infrastructure and facilities

• Extending and enhancing public transportation infrastructure and facilities

• Creating proximity between workers and their workplaces, which results in higher productivity due to shorter travel time for workers

• Greater diversity of employers and thus job possibilities

• Increasing the likelihood of workers finding jobs that match their skills, which also results in higher productivity

• Greater productivity due to more diversity, vitality, innovation, and creativity

• Attracting skilled labor force by high quality of life due to better access to a diversity of local services and jobs

• Maintaining the diversity for choice among workplaces, service facilities, and social contacts

• Requiring less and cheaper per capita infrastructure provision due to more efficient public service delivery

Social sustainability

• Creating a better quality of life through more social interaction, community spirit, and cultural vitality due to the access by proximity to facilities, workplaces, public spaces, public transportation, as well as the opportunity for walking and cycling

• Reducing crime and providing a feeling of safety through natural surveillance

• Improving social equity through better access to services and facilities and flexible design of housing in terms of mixed forms and affordability

• Maintaining public service level for social welfare by improved efficiency

• Greater accessibility due to lower cost enabled by shorter intra-urban distances

• Lowering transport costs, higher mobility for people without access to a car, and improved human health due to more cycling and walking

• Enhancing social cohesion through a sense of belonging and connectedness

• Supporting human, psychological, and physical health through ready access to open green space, walkability in neighborhoods, and social contact

• Enhancing livability in terms of social stability and cultural and recreational possibilities

• Healing spatial segregation by forging the physical links and bridging barriers between communities