Promote compact and diverse urban structure. Land use should be efficient.


Implement and promote compact and sustainable land use

Analysis of the present structure will identify opportunities for compact urban and spatial structure. Detailed analysis of the present land use and the future needs can also bring about new innovations. Pay special attention to the existing area’s location, housing types, and the efficiency of present land use. Roads and other infrastructure should be planned in a way, that also the future climate conditions are taken into consideration (landslides, heavy rains, frost etc.).

Identify locations for supplemental building

Prioritise locations that enable supplemental building inside the existing urban structure, as well as areas with existing public transportation connections/infrastructure. Also, brownfields located inside the urban structure can offer unique opportunities for re-development. Regional aspects should also be taken into account; trans-municipal planning (regional structure planning) enables effective use of the regions. Trans-municipal strategic plans are a good tool for this. 

Mix the functions

Buildings and areas should easily accommodate changes over time – in use, residents, and environment. Areas can be multi-use, giving people the possibility to work, live and spend their leisure time in the same area. This allows different groups of people into contact with each other, as they share the same space. It also increases the effectiveness of the use of space, as it makes a space that is used by different groups at different times of day/night. Furthermore, existing infrastructure should be used year-around, even if for slightly different purposes. Such constant and perhaps multi–use can help minimise maintenance costs. Areas  or spaces that are unused during various seasons, weekends or certain parts of the day/night could easily offer space for other uses and could even be used to promote small scale economic development.

Also, different types of housing (apartment buildings, detached houses, and row houses), as well as basic shops and services (schools, kindergartens, shops, and health services) should be available in the same residential areas. Together, they will decrease the demand of travelling. Give priority to developments along efficient public transport corridors and public transport stations, especially rail. While the minimum requirement is to be able to reach the services and work place by public transport, it would be ideal to be able to reach them by walking or bicycling. Car pooling is an efficient transportation solution/option for  low-dense regions. 

Secure viability of public transport and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure

Building outside the existing structure should be considered carefully. If it becomes a trend in the area, the costs in the future may be exceptional high, as both public and private services will not be located in a logistically optimal way. Inefficient networks are expensive to build and maintain. Also, the existing, dispersed structure is hard to fix and make more compact later. Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure should be well developed. There should be space for pedestrians in the city centre. This will also increase the attractiveness of the city centre and benefit the local economy.

See also other categories in planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation:

» Local climate and the future climate scenarios
» Sustainable transportation
» Energy efficiency
» Comfortable and healthy environment
» Public participation and stakeholder involvement
» Strategic planning
» Costs