Infill development as an approach for promoting compactness of urban form

Abstract

In the last few decades, urban decay has increased within the city urban fabric; due to the deterioration of the inner city and increase in population. High income citizens abandoned their houses demanding a better quality of life outside the city fabric, leading the old city to be occupied by poorer households or left vacant. Urban decay is linked to suburban sprawl as the economic life is pulled out of the city, instead of a previously developed urban site within the old city fabric. Infill development is the new development of vacant, abandoned, passed over, or underutilized land within built-up areas of existing communities, where infrastructure is already in place. It is a solution to filling gaps in existing communities and playing a critical role in achieving community revitalization, land conservation and alternatives to sprawl development. Taking advantage of existing infrastructure, increasing walkability by contributing safe and attractive pedestrian environment, creating new opportunities for mixed use that recapture the "sense of place" that is largely missing in development projects. Infill development is a solution to enhancing the character, viability and function of the old city. The aim of this research is to articulate the potential and limits of infill development. It focuses on factors that influence decisions to introduce infill development as an approach to smart growth and a solution to urban decay. This is achieved by analyzing international and local examples of infill development to identify the different land use of vacant land in different urban contexts. An analytical comparison is carried on the examples, to achieve broad recommendations for infill development in different urban contexts.

Climate Change Mitigation through Modular Construction

“…MC can contribute to the rejuvenation of brownfields by facilitating infill development. Infill development involves the revitalization of vacant, abandoned, or underutilized land within established communities where infrastructure is already present, serving as a solution for filling gaps and contributing to community revitalization, land conservation, and alternatives to sprawling development [96].…”

“…The subsequent expansion of the built environment will lead to further deterioration of the natural environment, thereby adding to CC [94]. Strategies like infill development and adaptive reuse of existing structures are necessary to promote resourceful land used to repopulate the deteriorating parts of urban areas [96]. Mixed-use projects enabling the same facility to serve multiple purposes are pivotal to avoiding new land preservation construction [100].…”

Principles of Infill Development Policy towards Sustainable Urban Containment in Residential Areas

“…Population and urban growth has increased rapidly since the 1960s in many cities, at both local and international level [1]. Where the proportion of the population in cities increased to more than 60%, this led to more urban expansion, which was mostly horizontal expansion outside the city limits [2]. This Urban sprawl is more expensive in provision of facilities, infrastructure and transportation, in addition to its negative environmental, economic and social effects on the population and the place which are inconsistent with the various principles of sustainability [3].…”

“…This Urban sprawl is more expensive in provision of facilities, infrastructure and transportation, in addition to its negative environmental, economic and social effects on the population and the place which are inconsistent with the various principles of sustainability [3]. These effects are represented in losing of green areas and agricultural lands, decreasing land economic' values of the land, and social segregation between different social classes within the cities [1,2] For long time periods, the potentials within cities for urban expansion and development were neglected and focus only on developing the periphery areas and cities 'outside in search of better environments for living [4]. Therefore, a number of policies had appeared since the sixties aimed at managing urban growth and trying to contain urban' components within cities by exploiting all capabilities within cities and reducing the previous negatives of urban sprawl [3,5].…”

Crescimento Da Mancha Urbana Na Cidade De João Pessoa, Pb

“…Já o crescimento urbano dado pela inserção de "novos espaços urbanizados" , em vazios urbanos do tecido preexistente, representa um crescimento urbano que preserva a mancha urbana e contém a sua distensão sobre a paisagem vizinha (ALLY; ATTWA, 2013;INOSTROZA;BAUR;CSAPLOVICS, 2013;ARARUNA;BENTES, 2013).…”