Under the radar? ‘Soft’ residential densification in England, 2001–2011

Urban compaction policies have been widely adopted in developed countries in pursuit of more
sustainable cities. Compactness is achieved through a process of ‘densification’, of developing and
using land and buildings more intensively. However, empirical evidence on the processes and
outcomes of urban densification is lacking. The paper addresses this lacuna. It considers
densification in England, a country that has long experience of applying policies of urban
containment and consolidation; and one where new data sources allow the analysis of recent
land use change at a level of detail not hitherto possible. In England between 2001 and 2011, the
bulk of additional dwellings were accommodated within urban areas, increasing their density.
Yet, there were wide inter- and intra-regional variations in the pattern of densification: for
example, in the contributions of large scale, formal development and of small scale, informal,
gradual change – of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ densification – to the process. The significant differences in
local experiences of densification that result raise major issues for policy.