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Palgrave Macmillan

Urbanization in Europe

Past Developments and Pathways to a Sustainable Future

  • Book
  • Open Access
  • © 2024

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Overview

  • This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access
  • This book explores the variance in trajectories between territories, urban form, key drivers, and sustainability
  • Demonstrate particularly in high-growth regions, planning policies can make a real difference

Part of the book series: Sustainable Urban Futures (SUF)

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About this book

This open access book comes at an opportune time, with ‘land take’ high on the EU policy agenda. It shows how over one million hectares in Europe became urbanized between 2000 and 2018, over eight times that which changed back to agriculture or nature. This book seeks to explain this development and offer suggestions on how to control it, drawing on the ESPON Sustainable Urbanization and land-use Practices in European Regions (SUPER) project. It presents up-to-date analyses on urbanization rates (land take) as well as densities and morphology (sprawl). It also discusses the impact of spatial planning instruments and other public-sector interventions. Finally, the book peers into the future by drawing up urbanization scenarios – compact, polycentric, and diffuse – for 2050, and reflects on their sustainability. It concludes with the encouraging message that policy can make a positive difference.

Keywords

Table of contents (6 chapters)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague, The Netherlands

    David Evers

  • Urbanex, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivana Katurić

  • Netherlands Environmental Assessment Age, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Ries van der Wouden

About the authors

David Evers is a senior researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), lecturer in planning at the University of Amsterdam, and the ESPON contact point for the Netherlands. He holds a BA in Political Science from Reed College, and an MA and PhD in Urban Planning from the University of Amsterdam. He has published on retail development, European spatial planning, renewable energy, and institutional theory.

Ivana Katurić is the director of Urbanex, an independent advisory and research organisation on sustainable urban development. Her clients include the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and ESPON. Katurić was a coordinator of numerous studies on topics such as circular cities, climate change and future ecosystems, and recovery and resilience plans. She earned her PhD at the University of Milan.

Ries van der Wouden is currently retired. He has taught at the University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Free University and worked at the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). He received an MSc and PhD in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. His work focuses on Dutch planning.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Urbanization in Europe

  • Book Subtitle: Past Developments and Pathways to a Sustainable Future

  • Authors: David Evers, Ivana Katurić, Ries van der Wouden

  • Series Title: Sustainable Urban Futures

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62261-8

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2024

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-62260-1Published: 09 July 2024

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-62263-2Due: 23 July 2025

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-62261-8Published: 08 July 2024

  • Series ISSN: 2730-6607

  • Series E-ISSN: 2730-6615

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXV, 157

  • Number of Illustrations: 33 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Human Geography, Urban Studies/Sociology, Urban Economics, Sustainable Development

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