The nature and form of the urban environment is a critical determinant of the sustainability of our society, as it is responsible directly for a large proportion of consumed energy, and influences indirectly the patterns and modes of energy consumed in everyday activities. We examine the current state of research into the energy and greenhouse gas emissions attributable directly or indirectly to urban form. Specifically, we look at the embodied (construction) and operational energy attributable to the construction, maintenance and use of residential dwellings, and we review the literature on the relationship between urban structure and transport related energy consumption. While there is clear evidence from both intra and inter city comparisons that higher density, transit oriented cities have lower percapita transport energy use, the effect of housing density on residential (in-house) energy use is less clear. More detailed research is needed to examine the relationships between urban form and overall energy use. * Corresponding Author: peter.rickwood@gmail.com (ph: 02 9514 8606) 1 In this article, we discuss delivered energy, primary energy, and greenhouse gas emissions attributable to energy use. We asssume readers are aware of the relationship between these measures.

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There is a lack of knowledge about effective implementation of intensification policies. The paper concentrates on the intensification experience of Sydney, Australia, and Toronto, Canada. Historical narratives, which document intensification efforts and outcomes since the 1950s, paint different pictures. For much of the period, Sydney adopted a medium-density strategy sustained by public-sector incentives and regulations. In Toronto, in contrast, the focus has been on high-density developments driven mostly by market trends. Lately, however, the Sydney intensification strategy has shifted to high-density projects. The paper concludes by drawing out findings that are relevant to intensification policies in the selected metropolitan regions and elsewhere: the ubiquity of NIMBY reactions; the importance of senior government involvement because less sensitive to anti-density NIMBY reactions; the possibility of framing intensification strategies in ways that avoid political party confrontation; and the role of major environmental movements in raising public opinion support to intensification.walking and cycling plus associated reductions in air pollution, reduced infrastructure costs, preservation of rural land and meeting the dwelling preferences of the growing cohort of younger childless households and older empty-nesters (Eckdish, 1998;McCrea et al., 2005). While some aspects of intensification (the relationship between density and journey

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