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This paper describes a research programme which seeks to establish a methodology for analysing the fabric of the urban environment, of which 80% is housing, in terms of its sustainability. The research focuses on the concept of compactness as being appropriate in explaining the sustainability of the case study cities of Lisbon, Edinburgh and Barcelona. The study proposes a comparative framework model to represent different built form arrangements, densities, social, economic and historical conditions, in order to link urban form to measurements of environmental sustainability within the definitions of the European Union. The results of this study should be applicable in identifying those urban housing forms that promote variation and subsequent change; in understanding urban design in terms of sustainable development, and in defining the limits of control over the nature and extent of change. Copyright©2000 IAHS.