Containing urban expansion: Densification vs greenfield development, socio-demographic transformations and the economic crisis in a Southern European City, 2006–2015

Self-contained urban expansion is associated with accelerated (or decelerated) rates of metropolitan growth depending on the different phases of the economic cycle; self-contained growth is usually more intense during recessions. To verify such framework, a specific approach based on novel indicators of urban growth (2006–2015) was illustrated and applied to a metropolitan region in southern Europe (Athens, Greece) experiencing progressively worst economic conditions as a consequence of the 2007 crisis. This approach allows assessment of greenfield development and densification processes – intended as a specific form of brownfield development – at municipal level, with the aim to relate such patterns with the socioeconomic local context. The empirical results of this study outlined that total urban expansion decreased over time with greenfield development. The share of brownfield development in total urban expansion was relatively low in the first time interval and increased afterwards, fuelling metropolitan growth in a period characterized by a generalized decline of building activity. High per-capita income and local specialization in advanced services were characteristic traits of peri-urban districts with a particularly high rate of brownfield development. A comparative analysis of spatial patterns of greenfield and brownfield development forms a basic knowledge informing strategies that promote self-contained urban expansion.