This report - which contains case studies of Melbourne, Vancouver, Paris, Toyama and Portland - offers a comprehensive understanding of the compact city concept, its role in today’s urban contexts, and the potential outcomes of compact city policies. It examines compact city policies across the OECD in relation to green growth objectives and the role of indicators in tracking policy performance. The report proposes compact city strategies and ideas for achieving better outcomes and highlights governance challenges for implementing practical compact city strategies. Importantly, it highlights how urban spatial policies can help foster economic growth and development while preventing environmental degradation and climate change. The report thus addresses a central concern of the OECD Green Growth Strategy, and provides an important contribution to it.
