ABSTRACT
The dominant rationality of contemporary environmental planning is ecological modernisation. Within the field of urban development, densification has been considered for some decades as the most relevant eco-modernisation planning strategy. This chapter takes the densification strategy as its case and develops a critique that examines this policy in terms of the core premises of ecological modernisation. The densification strategy has several environmental merits compared to outward urban expansion. However, even a strongly pursued eco-modernisation strategy of densification cannot entirely decouple growth in buildings and infrastructure from its negative environmental impacts. The situation calls for approaches to environmental planning beyond the eco-modernisation perspective. We need a new paradigm for environmental planning and urban sustainability that secures adequate urban facilities for all members of society while not being committed to (per capita) growth in the built environment.
