Density Yields Few Benefits If Sprawl Still Occurs
Aside from Quartz’s very misleading title, a recent study concluded that if cities increased density into their urban cores, there would still be few benefits to air quality if sprawl isn’t reduced as well.
A Boston University study published on April 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that a major push in cities like Denver to build dense housing, better transit systems, and more bike lanes in their urban core doesn’t necessarily lead to lower per-capita CO2 emissions. That’s because suburbs continue to sprawl and residents there still drive to work.
Mass transit isn’t necessarily the answer to lower carbon emissions