Immigration and Densities: A Contribution to the Compact Cities and Sprawl Debates

This paper focuses on the intersection between two very important public policy issues, international immigration and metropolitan sprawl, that superficially might seem, at best, loosely connected. It also, by inference rather than by being explicit, raises the question of how to bridge the gap between some public perceptions (including interest group positions) and demonstrable research findings. It makes no attempt to answer this latter question, but how to communicate the results of planning research to change the orientation of public policy debates remains vitally important.