--- This was only a conference abstract. Please see my comparative article of growth management in the Pacific Northwest and some European cities here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40984-016-0022-2 ---
The development of contemporary urban growth management in the Northwest United States began in the 1970s. The major tool is the implementation of urban containment boundaries, fostering growth within and limiting it outside the boundary. Additionally a set of policies reaching from densification strategies to the trade of development rights is used to support the growth managements’ goals. The paper reviews the most important elements of the urban growth management in Washington and Oregon State. Based on several semi-structured interviews with planning experts done during a research stay in Seattle and Portland in May 2009, as well as some reports and data on land use development, an evaluation of the growth management will be done and some conclusions for a potential application of growth management in a Danish context will be drawn. The premises in Danish planning are certainly different from Washington and Oregon as e.g. the municipalities in Denmark have strong control options in planning. However, especially the metropolitan co-operation and co-ordination instruments can certainly contribute to the discussion on urban growth management in Denmark and elsewhere.