Markets vs Management

"Not only is the literature [on Growth Management] large; it is contentious. Virtually every piece or research, virtually every author proves unable to maintain a neutral stance. Rather there is an exceptional ideological split between believers in and skeptics of growth management and smart growth.

I am no different.

For the broad question of whether to utilize growth management or not, the honest answers seem to be:

There is probably no significant difference in per capita costs of infrastructure or service provision as between more or less compact urban settlement. This conclusion is also supported from Census of Government data. There is also probably no significant difference in aggregate environmental costs or emissions.

There is a trade-off from the use of growth boundaries; open space is perceived as preserved and interference with resource activities is reduced, but there is probably a net transfer of wealth from the less affluent to the richer. Growth management, especially the urban growth boundary, can raise the cost of housing, in turn inducing public subsidy and/or regulation to maintain some affordable housing.