Sustainability 2013, 5(3), 1067-1079; doi:10.3390/su5031067
Article

The Impacts of Spatial Planning on Degrowth

Petra Wächteremail
Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Strohgasse 45/5, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Received: 8 November 2012; in revised form: 31 January 2013 / Accepted: 4 February 2013 / Published: 7 March 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Degrowth: The Economic Alternative for the Anthropocene)
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Abstract: As the current growth economy has created severe environmental pollution and unbalanced distribution of prosperity, there is an increasing amount of critical voices calling for a change. The new concept of degrowth addresses a fundamental change in political, economic and institutional levels underpinning different norms and values towards sustainability. Spatial planning institutions have a decisive role in the transition process insofar as they take decisions regarding the use of land and its attributed space. Especially in three areas spatial planning has influential potentials to stimulate the transition process towards degrowth by enhancing: (i) a sustainable use of renewable energy sources; (ii) sustainable settlement structures; and (iii) the creation of social capital by more community based facilities. The paper explores these possibilities for intervention and shows how spatial planning can have positive impacts on degrowth.
Keywords: degrowth; spatial planning; settlement structures

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wächter, P. The Impacts of Spatial Planning on Degrowth. Sustainability 2013, 5, 1067-1079.

AMA Style

Wächter P. The Impacts of Spatial Planning on Degrowth. Sustainability. 2013; 5(3):1067-1079.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wächter, Petra. 2013. "The Impacts of Spatial Planning on Degrowth." Sustainability 5, no. 3: 1067-1079.

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