Environmental Law Tools for the Idea of a Compact City: Learning from the Dutch Case

The concept of a compact city is an important tool to support sustainable urban development. However, the intensified use of urban areas can also cause tension between environmental law and spatial planning policy. This chapter addresses the question as to what extent environmental law tools can support the idea of a compact city. It first discusses EU policy on this matter and then examines the Dutch approach on the idea of a compact city.