Density is a Four Letter Word
Posted on | May 14, 2009 | No Comments
After spending time in New York this past week, I couldn’t get over the population density of the city … over 1.6 million people live within the 60 square kilometres of Manhattan Island alone; it is the densest population centre in the United States.
I’m sure many New Yorkers wouldn’t have it any other way … one woman I spoke with raved about her 425 sq. ft. apartment. A fourth-floor walk-up. With no balcony or yard space or air conditioning. One main window. Looking over a concrete street. And she loves it!
Compared to such congestion, rural and rurban living is majestically spacious. And, internationally, population density is used as a standard determinant of rurality.
But density has become a four-letter word in many rural and rurban communities. Yet rural and rurban areas experiencing growth need to consider density arguments from all angles. That is, should a community grow upwards, outwards, or nowhere? And what are the implications of each?
Many people who live in rural areas want to continue the rural lifestyle enjoyed by previous generations. Still others want to live in rural areas to enjoy the natural beauty yet have access to the conveniences of urban life. Density is painted as the enemy. And sprawl is scoffed at due to sustainability issues. Trying to reconcile these philosophical differences with the need to manage the impacts of growth is not an easy task.
There needs to be a new conversation.
Low density is an expectation in rural and rurban areas. Planning and design continue to be centered around the car, not the pedestrian. And consumers continue to drive the growth of large, suburban developments.
While I wouldn’t advocate for New York’s level of population concentration, shifting the conversation from preconceived expectations to appropriate livable and/or sustainable options allows density to become a planning tool, rather than a result.
The province of Ontario, for instance, is strongly encouraging this type of conversation through its Places to Grow program. And Vancouver, British Columbia - an area with more than 2 million individuals - is working towards an EcoDensity initiative.
In many rural-urban fringe areas, land is a limited resource. And too often ’smart growth’ or density is made into all-or-nothing proposition when future development is discussed.
Decision-makers, planners and citizens need to find ways to bring appropriate mixed-use and higher density developments to meet the needs of their communities, both for revitalizing existing areas and, especially, for building new ones.
If one thing remains certain, population concentration, not sprawl, will continue to be a major social, economic, and political issue in the coming years.
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Community development, growth and communication in the rural-urban fringe landscape.
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