Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live

This research paper by Michael Kinsley addresses communities conflicted over local growth and development, proposing a distinction between 'development' (improvements) and 'expansion' (size increase) to better inform community planning.

• The author argues that the term 'growth' is misleading due to its multiple meanings, and suggests that distinguishing between 'development', which refers to things that make a community better, and 'expansion', which refers to things that make a community bigger, provides a more useful framework for analysis.
• The paper posits that 'natural capitalism' is a more comprehensive approach than 'smart growth' for maximizing a community's potential without requiring physical expansion. This approach involves investing in resource productivity, adopting biologically inspired economic models, and reinvesting in natural capital to create wealth and jobs while protecting the environment.

APA

Kinsley, M. (2001). Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live. RMI. https://rmi.org/resources/grappling-with-growth-building-a-strong-economy-and-great-place-to-live/

Chicago

Kinsley, Michael. Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live. RMI, 2001. https://rmi.org/resources/grappling-with-growth-building-a-strong-economy-and-great-place-to-live/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kinsley |first1=Michael |title=Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live |publisher=RMI |date=17 May 2001 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/grappling-with-growth-building-a-strong-economy-and-great-place-to-live/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kinsley2001grappling, author = {Kinsley, Michael}, title = {{Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2001}, month = may, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/grappling-with-growth-building-a-strong-economy-and-great-place-to-live/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }