Density as an indicator of sustainable urban development: insights from Helsinki?

ABSTRACT

Densification has become a dominant strategy for sustainable urban development in recent decades, viewed as a main antidote to urban sprawl and essential for achieving a range of urban qualities from economic to ecological. Despite its prominence as an indicator and driver of sustainable development, measuring density in a meaningful way poses significant challenges. Arbitrary metrics often overlook the complexity of density and its associations, leading to potential unintended outcomes in density-driven planning. Using the Helsinki region as a case study, this article demonstrates the sensitivity of density measurements to minor changes in reference areas and calculation units, highlighting how different types of density can loosely relate to each other. Our findings underscore the importance of precise methodological choices in avoiding misguided planning decisions and policy advice that could compromise sustainability goals, revealing the complex dynamics of infill and edge growth often obscured in regional density measures.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban density
• densification
• sustainable urban development
• compact city
• sustainability indicators
• modifiable area unit problem MAUP

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Yleiskaavan ratkaisuilla on suuri merkitys Helsingin korkealle kaupunkituottavuudelle.

2 The SYKE urban settlement designation process considers a number of criteria concerning population, number of buildings and floor area at a 250-m grid cell level. Specifically, grid cells must meet the following conditions: 1: at least two buildings or at least 300 m² of GFA, 2: at least 40 buildings within 1 km, and 3: at least 1500 m² of GFA in neighbouring 8 cells. Several processes of buffering and smoothing are carried out before dissolving the areas to create continuous polygons. Finally, only those areas with at least 200 residents are retained (SYKE 2022).

3 The inner city (kantakaupunki) of Helsinki, city districts 1–27 (see Figure 1), covering 4.6% of the 1990 boundary.

Additional information

Funding

This research received funding from the Finnish Ministry of Environment’s Suburban Programme Lähiöohjelma for years 2020–2022.