The compensation hypothesis in Barcelona measured through the ecological footprint of mobility and housing

The compensation hypothesis poses the possibility that individuals who live in dense urban centres have a greater propensity to have a second residence and/or to travel more frequently to more distant destinations on the weekends and vacations than individuals who live in zones that are not so dense. Given this context, the net effect of density in environmental terms is not clear. In this study, we check the compensation hypothesis in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area using the ecological footprint of mobility and housing as global environmental impact indicator. The results strongly reject the compensation hypothesis, although they do detect the existence of a maximum level of density beyond which a positive impact is exerted. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.