Quantifying sustainable growth through a morphological approach comparison to population density measurements

Abstract

Sustainable urban planning has to maintain an adequate relationship between demographic dynamics and the development of physical urban structures. The discrepancy between potential urban land capacities and actual population data indicates demographic growth or shrinkage, which needs to be considered as an essential issue of urban strategic planning. In order to maintain proper population densities, one of the key challenges is the establishment of reliable and quick methods to quantify both potential and real densities. The current paper reviews available methods of density calculations with a focus on possibilities to integrate GIS tools. It uses an assessment matrix to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each method. A fresh look is given to the usage of urban morphology, which is particularly efficient at the small-scale urban areas and in situations of data scarcity.