The question of whether cities can continue expand without impacting the environment that surrounds them is the topic of a recent study by ICTA-UAB in Spain.

The study, The debate on growth versus environment at the urban scale, which was published in the Nature Cities journal, compares three main approaches to urban growth – ‘green growth’, which relies on technology and efficiency to reduce environmental impacts while maintaining economic expansion; ‘degrowth’, which advocates reducing production and consumption to protect ecosystems; and ‘post-growth’, which suggests deprioritising GDP in favour of well-being and sustainability.

Each approach is then analysed across four dimensions of urban growth – including economic, demographic, spatial, and environmental elements – considering both their impacts and political feasibility.

As the study notes, given that cities can vary significantly in their physical makeup and development levels, there is clearly no one-size-fits-all solution, so ‘green growth’ policies aren’t applicable in all cases.

It also challenges the ‘degrowth’ concept that shrinking urban centres could be beneficial for the environment, pointing out that large cities are not necessarily unsustainable, with their density and scale providing more environmental public transport and housing, if they are well planned.

“The main contribution of the study is a comparative conceptual framework that helps understand how different forms of urban growth interact and what implications they have for the future of cities,” commented Charlotte Liotta, researcher at ICTA-UAB and lead author of the study.

In all cities, the report suggests, population and spatial growth need to be carefully managed to avoid effects like increased emissions and biodiversity loss.

The study explores how different forms of urban growth interact and what their implications are for the future of cities, as well as showcasing some alternative approaches, including Barcelona’s superblocks (pictured) and Amsterdam’s ‘doughnut’ city planning strategy.

“One of the main conclusions is that empirical evidence on the decoupling of economic growth and environmental harm in cities remains limited, which calls for caution regarding the promises of green urban growth,” added Jeroen van den Bergh, ICTA-UAB researcher and co-author of the study. Read more here.