 Tight spaces, strong cities: The resilience payoff of urban compactnessHaoyu Lian, Shuning Kong and Yihua Yu Land Use Policy, 2025, vol. 156, issue C Abstract: This study investigates the critical role of urban compactness in enhancing economic resilience, a topic of growing importance in light of increasing urbanization and external shocks. Using data from Chinese cities spanning 2010–2020 the study develops an urban compactness index based on fractal geometry and nighttime light data. Panel analysis results reveal a significant positive impact of compactness on economic resilience. Robustness checks focusing on sample issues and endogeneity confirm the core finding. Moreover, the impact of compactness is driven by industrial agglomeration, improved land use efficiency, and reduced public fiscal burden. The effect varies by city size and economic development level, with less developed cities benefiting more from compact planning. This study enhances the understanding of how spatial form influences urban resilience and provides policy recommendations for strengthening resilience through compact urban development strategies. Keywords: Urban compactness; Economic resilience; Industrial agglomeration; Land use efficiency; Fiscal expenditure; China (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:156:y:2025:i:c:s0264837725001553 DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107621 Access Statistics for this article Land Use Policy is currently edited by Jaap Zevenbergen More articles in Land Use Policy from Elsevier |
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