Effects of a Compact City on Urban Resources and Environment

Since the proposition of compact city theory, the sustainability of the compact city and whether it represents an appropriate orientation for urban development have been heatedly discussed. How urban compactness will affect resource utilization and environmental pollution is still unknown. By fully considering the core connotations of the compact city, a comprehensive evaluation indicator system was established to measure the compactness of 35 major cities in China in 2000 and 2010. The results showed the prevalence of urban sprawl. Multiple linear regression was employed to investigate the relationship between urban compactness and resource consumption and pollutant discharges in China. The results indicated that compact urban development can promote a more efficient utilization of urban resources with no obvious impact on the urban environment, especially in the reduction of pollutant emissions.