David Roberts at Grist argues that density doesn't just have those hippie benefits like improving the environment or creating communities - it also can create engines of prosperity and economic growth.
Roberts breaks it down:
"Here's the basic idea: When smart, skilled people start to gather in a place, the process becomes self-perpetuating. More smart, skilled people show up to be near the others. And the more smart, skilled people you get close together, the more you reduce transaction costs and increase "knowledge spillover," which leads to commerce and innovation."
He points to Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Regional Growth by Masahisa Fujita and Jacques-Francois Thisse as evidence.
Read the full story: Great places: smart density as part of economic flourishing
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority