One of the major advantages of Site Value Tax is that it is a powerful way of limiting urban sprawl and encouraging the intensive use of urban land. It’s good, then, to see compact settlement receiving attention as an aspect of sustainability. George Monbiot discusses it in his Guardian column today.
The environmental consequences depend on where you are. In the rich nations, urban living tends to have smaller impacts than rural living. Public transport requires a certain population density to be economically viable: otherwise people are forced to use their cars. The more widely distributed people are, the greater the resources required to provide their services….Without policies to keep cities compact and urban densities high, they will begin to fail all over the world: logistically, socially and economically. Remember that, whenever anyone argues that we should weaken the planning laws to stimulate the economy.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t discuss what sort of policies can help in this!
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