Compatibilities between urban agglomeration and degrowth economy
Compatibilities between urban agglomeration and degrowth economy

Author(s): Alina Haller
Subject(s): National Economy, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: INCD URBAN-INCERC
Keywords: degrowth economy; degrowth society; economic growth; urban agglomeration; ecosystem
Summary/Abstract: Economic growth is the process that has changed the style and quality of life, has moved human activities from rural to urban and has favored the dynamics of urban agglomeration. In recent years, the consequences of these trends of progress and urbanization have begun to be negatively felt, by warming the planet, extreme phenomena, affecting the health of people, in large part, by a general negative effect of the ecosystem. The world is going through a period when precisely the growth factors are transposing into harmful factors that need impetuous safeguard measures. We reiterate the ideas of Georgescu-Roegen's entropy theory and bring to our attention the need for a new form of economic growth, that of the degrowth. Without having a negative connotation, degrowth supports increasing well-being by improving the ecosystem quality. In this context, the urban agglomerations appear in total contradiction with the principles of the degrowth economy and society. The analysis shows that the tendency of urban agglomeration can only be calibrated to the degrowth economy only when the level of people's consciousness rises to a higher level and through volunteers action doubled by effective economic policy measures.

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