Planning for Compact Cities: The Interplay of Housing Provision and Urbanisation

Abstract

Due to its role as a major driver of urbanisation, housing provision should be given significant attention in contemporary debates on compact urbanisation policies. However, housing systems’ relationship with planning is often opaque, characterised by informal institutions and planning practices. We discuss the opportunities provided by housing system theory concepts – particularly the housing provision chain – as a powerful aid in analysing public action in planning and the resulting modes of urbanisation. We provide the case of Croatia to demonstrate the ways in which the trajectory of the housing system influenced and was influenced by spatial planning practice, and how it can account for apparently paradoxical and unsustainable urbanisation outcomes, hinting at the potential of housing policies to achieve compact urbanisation objectives.