When cities have high urban density—referring to the concentration of population, housing, and businesses within a city—they support local economies, preserve open space, and promote healthier, more vibrant communities.
Compact living improves access to job diversity, as it tends to attract more businesses targeting popular commercial and residential corridors, often resulting in higher wage opportunities for residents. Reducing sprawl also enables more reliable public transit, lowers emissions per resident, and encourages walkability/mobility for residents. Infrastructure is also more cost-effective, as denser cities make it cheaper to maintain roads, utilities, and services, and serve more people efficiently. Dense urban areas also foster social mobility, supporting locally owned businesses, the arts, and cultural events.
Focusing on denser, upward development rather than outward sprawl helps address challenges to sustaining city populations, providing affordable housing, and promoting economic mobility. Infill development—the practice of building within existing urban areas—directly supports increased urban density. By making better use of vacant lots, underutilized properties, and aging buildings, infill development adds homes and businesses where infrastructure already exists, boosting housing supply without acquiring or consuming additional land.
Infill development is a crucial tool for mitigating urban sprawl. Cities such as Avondale, AZ use infill strategies to attract younger residents and jobs to areas of declining populations and high commercial building vacancy. Repurposing vacant lots or outdated buildings further increases density, as seen in Chandler, AZ’s incentive programs. Infill can also have positive environmental and social impacts, transforming brownfields or former industrial sites into new energy sources, such as the Sunnyside Landfill solar farm development in Houston, TX.
Schools also play a foundational role in shaping both social stability and the physical landscapes of cities. Their placement within cities is often designed to ensure that families can easily walk or commute. This design is what also allows schools to serve communities in a number of other gatherings, such as for neighborhood events and civic activities like polling sites. Schools support local economies by providing numerous jobs, many for middle-class professionals. The quality of the education system—from birth through workforce—is also a key factor that many consider when relocating to a new city. A high-quality education system typically correlates with higher quality jobs, which correlates with higher quality of life for residents. That is why prioritizing a high-quality and fully connected education system with strong postsecondary institutions is crucial to addressing population decline. A high-performing education ecosystem coupled with Memphis’ affordability would make Memphis a highly competitive place for retaining our existing talent and attracting college graduates, in line with other cities that offer a strong job market, affordable housing, and amenities.
