The Seeds of Doubt

Abstract

By relieving pressure in the donor cities, growth centres had been necessary to progress in urban renewal. However, almost as soon as they were getting off the ground, donor cities were perceiving them more as threats than as a welcome relief. By the mid-eighties, the growth-centres policy was toned down in favour of the ‘compact city’, in a way a return to the policy of concentric growth practised before planners had given in to the pressure of suburban growth. However, there is a difference. Concentric growth was born out of a defensive attitude and reflected a lack of regional and national planning concepts. The compact city is imbued with positive ideas as regards the role of cities. As the name suggests, the concept stands for developing and redeveloping cities at greater densities than before. A broad coalition of planners and politicians on all levels of government subscribes to this.