URBAN SPRAWL

By-Gaurav Singh
B.Arch(4th year)

Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl is a multifaceted concept

centered on the expansion of auto-oriented, low-density
development. Topics range from the outward spreading of a city
and its suburbs, to low-density and auto-dependent development
on rural land, examination of impact of high segregation between
residential and commercial uses, and analysis of various design
features to determine which may encourage car dependency. The
term "sprawl" is most often associated with US land use outside
the US and outside the term "peri-urbanisation" is often used to
denote similar dynamics and phenomena.
Discussions and debates about sprawl are often made unclear by
the uncertainty of the meaning associated with the phrase. For
example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the
average number of residential units per acre in a given area. But
others associate it with decentralization (spread of population
without
a
well-defined
center),
discontinuity
(leapfrog
development, segregation of uses, and so forth.
The term urban sprawl generally has negative connotations due
to the health, environmental and cultural issues associated with
the phrase. Residents of sprawling neighborhoods tend to emit
more pollution per person and suffer more traffic fatalities. Sprawl
is controversial, with supporters claiming that consumers prefer
lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not necessarily
increase traffic. Others have argued that sprawl is less a reflection
of consumer preferences and more a result of legal structures and
court decisions that have encouraged sprawl development.
In addition to describing a particular form of urbanization, the
term also relates to the social and environmental consequences
associated with this development. In Continental Europe the term

"peri-urbanisation" is often used to denote similar dynamics and

phenomena, although the term urban sprawl is currently being
used by the European Environment Agency.

CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN SPRAWL

The precise definition of sprawl there is a "general consensus that
urban sprawl is characterized by [an] unplanned and uneven
pattern of growth, driven by multitude of processes and leading to
inefficient resource utilization.
Reid Ewing has shown that sprawl has typically been
characterized as urban development exhibiting at least one of the
following characteristics:
low-density or single-use development
strip development, scattered development,
Leapfrog development (areas of development interspersed
with vacant land).
He argued that a better way to identify sprawl was to use
indicators rather than characteristics because this was a more
flexible and less arbitrary method.
He proposed using
"accessibility" and "functional open space" as indicators. Ewing's
approach has been criticized for assuming that sprawl is defined
by negative characteristics.
Ewing has also argued that suburban development does not, per
se constitute sprawl depending on the form it takes, although
Gordon & Richardson have argued that the term is sometimes
used synonymously with suburbanization in a pejorative way. The
following characteristics are often associated with sprawl:

Single-use development

Refers to a situation where commercial, residential, institutional

and industrial areas are separated from one another.
Consequently, large tracts of land are devoted to a single use and
are segregated from one another by open space, infrastructure, or
other barriers.
As a result, the places where people live, work, shop, and recreate
are far from one another, usually to the extent that walking,
transit use and bicycling are impractical, so all these activities
generally require an automobile.
The degree to which different land uses are mixed together is
often used as an indicator of sprawl in studies of the subject.

Low-density development
Sprawl is often characterized as consisting of low-density
development. The exact definition of "low density" is arguable,
but a common example is that of single family homes on large
lots. Buildings usually have fewer stories and are spaced farther
apart, separated by lawns, landscaping, roads or parking lots.
Specific measurements of what constitutes low-density is
culturally relative; for example, in the United States 2-4 houses
per acre might be considered low-density while in the UK 8-12
would still be considered low-density. Because more automobiles
are used much more land is designated for parking. The impact of
low density development in many communities is that developed
or "urbanized" land is increasing at a faster rate than the
population is growing.
In the past, when a local government built all the streets in a
given location, the town could expand without interruption and
with a coherent circulation system, because it had condemnation
power. Private developers generally do not have such power
(although they can sometimes find local governments willing to
help), and often choose to develop on the tracts that happen to
be for sale at the time they want to build, rather than pay extra or
wait for a more appropriate location.

View of suburban development in the Phoenix metropolitan area

Job sprawl and Spatial mismatch

Job Sprawl is another land use symptom of urban sprawl and cardependent communities. It is defined as low-density,
geographically spread-out patterns of employment, where the
majority of jobs in a given metropolitan area are located outside
of the main city's Central Business District (CBD), and increasingly
in the suburban periphery. It is often the result of urban
disinvestment, the geographic freedom of employment location
allowed by predominantly car-dependent commuting patterns of
many American suburbs, and many companies' desire to locate in
low-density areas that are often more affordable and offer
potential for expansion.
Spatial mismatch is related to job sprawl and economic
Environmental Justice. Spatial Mismatch is defined as the situation
where poor urban, predominantly minority citizens are left without
easy access to entry-level jobs, as a result of increasing job sprawl
and limited transportation options to facilitate a reverse commute
to the suburbs.

Commercial characteristics
In areas of sprawl commercial use is generally segregated from
other uses. In the U.S. and Canada, these vary from strip malls,

which refer to collections of buildings sharing a common parking

lot, usually built on a high-capacity roadway with commercial
functions (i.e., a "strip"). Similar developments in the UK are
called Retail Parks. Strip malls consisting mostly of big box stores
or category killers are sometimes called "power centers" (U.S.).
These developments tend to be low-density; the buildings are
single-story and there is ample space for parking and access for
delivery vehicles. This character is reflected in the spacious
landscaping of the parking lots and walkways and clear signage of
the retail establishments. Some strip malls are undergoing a
transformation into Lifestyle centers; entailing investments in
common areas and facilities (plazas, cafes) and shifting tenancy
from daily goods to recreational shopping.

Early attempts at combating urban sprawl

Starting in the early 20th century, environmentalist opposition to
urban sprawl began to coalesce, with roots in the garden city
movement, as well as pressure from campaign groups such as the
Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
Under Herbert Morrison's 1934 leadership of the London County
Council, the first formal proposal was made by the Greater
London Regional Planning Committee "to provide a reserve supply
of public open spaces and of recreational areas and to establish a
green belt or girdle of open space". It was again included in an
advisory Greater London Plan prepared by Patrick Abercrombie in
1944. The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 expressly
incorporated green belts into all further national urban
developments.
New provisions for compensation in the 1947 Town and Country
Planning Act allowed local authorities around the country to
incorporate green belt proposals in their first development plans.
The codification of Green Belt policy and its extension to areas

other than London came with the historic Circular 42/55 inviting
local planning authorities to consider the establishment of Green
Belts. The first urban growth boundary in the U.S. was in Fayette
County, Kentucky in 1958.
The Metropolitan Green Belt first proposed by the London County Council in 1935.

Adverse Effects related to Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is associated
environmental outcomes.

with

number

of

negative

Environmental
One of the major environmental problems associated with
sprawl is habitat loss and subsequent reduction in
biodiversity. A review by Czech and colleagues finds that
urbanization endangers more species and is more
geographically ubiquitous in the mainland United States than
any other human activity. Urban sprawl is disruptive to
native flora & fauna and introduces invasive plants into their
environments. Although the effects can be mitigated through
careful maintenance of native vegetation, the process of
ecological succession and public education, sprawl
represents one of the primary threats to biodiversity.

 Health
Sprawl leads to increased driving, and increased driving
leads to vehicle emissions that contribute to air pollution and
its attendant negative impacts on human health. In addition,
the reduced physical activity implied by increased
automobile use has negative health consequences. Sprawl
significantly predicts chronic medical conditions and healthrelated quality of life, but not mental health disorders. The
American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal
of Health Promotion, have both stated that there is a
significant connection between sprawl, obesity, and
hypertension.
Increased infrastructure/transportation costs
Living in larger, more spread out spaces generally makes
public services more expensive. Since car usage becomes
endemic and public transport often becomes significantly
more expensive, city planners are forced to build highway
and parking infrastructure, which in turn decreases taxable
land and revenue, and decreases the desirability of the area
adjacent to such structures. Providing services such as
water, sewers, and electricity is also more expensive per
household in less dense areas. Residents of low-density
areas spend a higher proportion of their income on
transportation than residents of high density areas. The RAC
estimates that the average cost of operating a car in the UK
is 5,000 a year, most of which stems from financing costs
and depreciation

Groups that oppose Urban Sprawl

The American Institute of Architects and the American Planning
Association recommend against sprawl and instead endorses
smart, mixed-use development, including buildings in close

proximity to one another that cut down on automobile use, save

energy,
and
promote
walkable,
healthy,
well-designed
neighborhoods. The Sierra Club, the San Francisco Bay Area's
Greenbelt Alliance, 1000 Friends of Oregon and counterpart
organizations nationwide, and other environmental organizations
oppose sprawl and support investment in existing communities.
NumbersUSA, a national organization advocating immigration
reduction, also opposes urban sprawl, and its executive director,
Roy Beck, specializes in the study of this issue.