1. Compact city policies: a comparative assessment applying a new definition of “urban”
TADASHI MATSUMOTO
Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD)
Presentation at the RSA European Conference 2012
May 15, 2012, Delft, the Netherlands
Two latest studies will be presented.
By doing so, the regional approach in our research is explained.

2. Redefining “urban”: a new way to measure metropolitan areas
3-year work
Mention the last year’s presentation

3. The OECD has developed a new approach to classifying urban areas
3 billion and counting of the world’s population live in some form of urban area. But around the world we don’t have the same definitions or understandings of what these urban areas are.
The new OECD classification, developed with the European Commission and member countries, identifies urban areas beyond city boundaries, as integrated labour market areas.
It is applied to 28 countries and identifies urban areas of different size: small urban, medium-sized urban, metropolitan and large metropolitan
It allows comparisons among the different forms that urbanisation takes (densely populated centres and their hinterlands, sprawling, polycentric connected cities, etc.)

4. Urban systems in a country comprise cities of different size
Korea
Old measurement method:
3 Large metropolitan regions
New measurement method:
45 Functional urban areas of different size
Seoul
Daegu
Busan
Previously, we just identified about 90 large metropolitan areas for international comparison.

5. Percentage of urban population by city size (2008)
Two-thirds of the OECD population live in urban areas, but the urban experience is very different in each country
Around 65% of the urban population in Korea live in large metropolitan areas;
In most European countries around 25% of urban population live in medium-sized areas
Small: thousands, Medium: , Metropolitan: , Large: 1500-
Percentage of urban population by city size (2008)

6. Percentage of population and GDP in metro areas (2008)
48% of the OECD population live in the 264 urban areas with a population of at least (metro area) and these areas account for 53% of OECD GDP
Percentage of population and GDP in metro areas (2008)

7. The urban population keeps growing, particularly in the hinterlands of large metropolitan areas
Population growth by city type and core/hinterland (average yearly growth rates)

8. The most dynamic metro areas are driven by different growth models
moderate population growth and high GDP per capita growth
high population and GDP per capita growth
high population growth and moderate GDP per capita growth
moderate population and GDP per capita growth
Population and GDP per capita growth in the 61 fastest -growing metro areas (with GDP growth 25% higher than the country average GDP growth)

9. Challenges
Adapt the definition of urban areas to all more countries (data availability)
Develop more indicators with the new definition (data availability)
Apply to policy analysis (gap between the new definition and unit of policy)
Relying on commuting data

10. Compact city policies: an application of the new urban definition

11. Outline of the study
To better understand the compact city concept and the implications of today’s urban contexts
To better understand potential outcomes, particularly in terms of Green Growth
To develop indicators to monitor compact cities
To examine current compact city practices in OECD
To propose key compact city strategies
This was a part of OECD’s green growth strategies.

12. Compact City? Not at a city scale, but the metropolitan scale:
Metropolitan level
Urban planning approach

13. Key urban trends: drivers for compact city
Urbanisation and the increasing need to conserve land resources
The threat of climate change to cities
The rise in energy prices
The challenge of sustainable economic growth
Demographic trend: declining population, ageing and smaller households in cities

14. Land is consumed at a faster rate…

15. …than population growth
Example, Ireland, Portugal

16. Energy price affects location choice
Stable period in 1990s, rapid changes in 2000s

17. More demands for smaller houses…
Average household size
Between 1980 and 2008.
Example:Korea

18. Percentage of one-person households
…and urban living
Percentage of one-person households
Example: Sweden

19. The contribution of the compact city to urban sustainability
Sub-characteristics of the compact city
Contribution to urban sustainability
Environmental benefits
Social benefits
Economic benefits
1. Shorter intra-urban travel distances
– Fewer CO2 emissions
– Less pollution from automobiles
– Greater accessibility due to lower cost
– Higher productivity due to shorter travel time for workers
2. Less automobile dependency
– Lower transport costs
– Higher mobility for people without access to a car
– Improved human health due to more cycling and walking
– Development of green jobs/ technologies
3. More district-wide energy utilisation and local energy generation
– Less energy consumption per capita, fewer CO2 emissions –
– Development of green jobs/technologies
– More energy independence
4. Optimum use of land resources and more opportunity for urban-rural linkage
– Conservation of farmlands and natural biodiversity
– Fewer CO2 emissions due to shorter food travel mileage
– Higher quality of life due to more recreational activities
– Rural economic development (urban agriculture, renewable energy, etc.)
5. More efficient public service delivery
– Public service level for social welfare maintained by improved efficiency
– Lower infrastructure investments and cost of maintenance
6. Better access to a diversity of local services and jobs
– Higher quality of life due to access to local services (shops, hospitals, etc.)
– Skilled labour force attracted by high quality of life
– Greater productivity due to more diversity, vitality, innovation and creativity

20. Lower expenditure on public service
This is what drove Toyama to compact city policies

21. Walkability to local service
Distance to the nearest medical facilities

22. Measuring the performance of compact city: proposed indicators
Category
Indicator
Indicators related to compactness
Dense and proximate development patterns
1. Population and urban land growth
2. Population density on urban land
3. Retrofitting existing urban land
4. Intensive use of buildings
5. Housing form
6. Trip distance
7. Urban land cover
Urban areas linked by public transport systems
8. Trips using public transport
9. Proximity to public transport
Accessibility to local services and jobs
10. Matching jobs and homes
11. Matching local services and homes
12. Proximity to local services
13. Trips on foot and by bicycle
Indicators related to the impact of compact city policies
Environmental
14. Public space and green areas
15. Transport energy use
16. Residential energy use
Social
17. Affordability
Economic
18. Public service

23. Population and urban land growth, 2000-2006

24. Population density on urban land

25. Urban land cover as an indicator of urban development patterns
Athens (3.4 million)
Atlanta (4.6 million)

26. 3-D density map the two cities with the same population
Vancouver’s density peak (11 413) is low, but the population density on urban land is 3 133.5, three times higher than that of Portland (1 049.1).

27. Density gradient graph
Portland (US)
Vancouver (Canada)

28. Median commute distance
for selected metropolitan areas in Canada,

29. Population living close to transport stations/network

30. Matching local services and homes
Melbourne
Vancouver

31. Policy practices in use
Regulatory / informative
Fiscal
Public investment / partnership
Master plan with explicit compact city goals / instruments
Urban design guidelines
Urban growth boundary / urban containment boundary
Greenbelt
Urban service boundary
Agricultural / natural land reserve
Minimum density requirement
Mixed-use requirement
Restriction on green-field development
Restricting location of facilities causing high trip frequency
Taxation of under-density
Congestion tax / fee / charges
Subsidies for densification
Tax incentives for promoting development near transit stations
Location Efficient Mortgage
Split-rate property tax
Purchasing land for natural reserve
Development agreement for dense/mixed-use development
Three more slides to show the overall structure of the study
Source: OECD compact city survey

32. The five key policy strategies

33. Key governance strategies
A vision: region-wide, integrated, long-term
Articulate the roles and responsibilities of all key actors and stakeholders in the vision
Vertical and horizontal coordination
Accountability, transparency and reporting

34. Conclusions
Importance of finer definition of “urban areas”, and smarter use of it
Policy design and implementation at these metropolitan level - governance is key (vision, data management, finance, etc.)
Innovative data collection technique (GIS, remote sensing tools, etc.) helps

35. Find out more:
OECD (2012), Redefining urban: a new way to measure metropolitan areas, OECD Publishing.
OECD (2012), Compact City Policies: A Comparative Assessment, OECD Green Growth Studies, OECD Publishing.
For more information on OECD work on regional and metropolitan statistics, visit: 
For more information on OECD work on urban development, visit: 

36. Thank you