The motivation of this research is to realise a bibliographic review of the literature about Compact City and Self-Sufficient City approaches to reach urban sustainability. There is much debate in the scientific community about which approach is more successful or more accessible, so this bibliographic review serves to explore these debates and analyze some of the deeper ideologies between these urban sustainability approaches. The study uses literature published between 2008 to 2020 regarding seven regions around the world, the seven regions are Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and North America. The decision to begin the search in 2008 was due to the fact that the financial crisis marked a noticeable change in urban sustainability models. As many cities around the world were essentially rebuilding after the crisis, they were also rethinking the environmental and social impact of urban development