Urban Sprawl
Urban Sprawl
Definition
•Our textbook
definition for urban
sprawl is the rapid,
often poorly planned
spread of
development from an
urban area outward
into rural areas.
Metropolitan Area
• Metropolitan area is defined as a
major population center made up
of a large city and the smaller
suburbs and towns that surround
it.
• Today 8 out of 10 people in the
United States and Canada live in a
metropolitan area.
• Suburb is defined as a developed
area at the edge of the city that is
mostly for housing and
businesses. These suburbs are also
part of the metropolitan area.
Graphic Organizer pg. 79
Urban Core
• When talking about a large city like
Detroit. The “walkable” part of the
city is known as the urban core.
• People often think of the urban
core as the “downtown” or
business district
• In the photo people are walking on
Woodward Avenue between
Comerica Park and the Fox Theatre.
Urban Fringe
• As cars were becoming part of
American life people began to
build housing farther away from
the urban core. These suburbs
formed the urban fringe.
• The picture shows an example of
an urban fringe city’s downtown
area.
Rural Fringe
• Beyond the urban fringe lies an
area with fewer people. Here,
small towns mix with farms and
open space. These less
developed areas form the rural
fringe around a metropolitan
area.
• The rural fringe and urban fringe
are all connected by roads,
freeway, and highways.
Other definitions we need to know
• Land use planning- back in
chapter 2 we defined land use as
the way people use the land
they live on to meet their needs.
• For this chapter think of land
use planning as the way people
figure out the best way to
develop the land in the most
practical way.
Continued
• Zoning ordinances specify
whether zones can be used for
residential or commercial
purposes, and may also regulate
lot size, placement, bulk (how
big it is and the height of certain
structures.
• Building codes are sets of rules
that specify the minimum
standards for constructed
objects such as buildings and
houses.
Facts about Urban Sprawl
• Urban Sprawl is all around us. We have
grown accustomed to it because we
believe that having stores like Target and
Walmart around is normal.
• Although it is nice to have everything
around us it has some astounding facts
surrounding it.
• It has cost Americans $87 billion dollars in
lost productivity (travel time in between
work, shopping is one example of lost
productivity)
• The cost of living is 18% higher
• The pollution per household has gone up
4 times more than usual.
• There is a 33% higher risk of obesity
Effects of Urban Sprawl: Traffic
• Because people are moving
further and further away from
their jobs, they have further
distances to travel. This is a loss
of productivity, and also puts a
strain on public roads, and on
the household budgets because
of the cost of repairs to cars and
the unstable price of gasoline.
Effects of Urban Sprawl: Cost of living
• Even though homes may be
cheaper to purchase, they are
more expensive in the sense that
people must pay more for
transportation and
infrastructure (property taxes,
city taxes, state taxes). Utilities
cost also rise because essentials
such as water and electricity
must be transported over longer
distances.
Pollution
• Urban sprawl produces more
pollution because it forces
everyone to use more electricity
and resources to live.
• According to the article the suburb
of Atherton near San Francisco,
California has a per-household
pollution score more than 4 times
than that of downtown San
Francisco.
• Atherton has a population of
around 7,159 and San Francisco
has a population of 837,442 (2013)
Health
• Urban Sprawl effects our health
because we spend so much time
travelling between destinations.
• Even though suburbs are usually
pedestrian friendly everything is so
spread out we are not able to
exercise regularly.
• Also when we are in the car so
much it is easier to eat unhealthy
foods like Mcdonald’s or Taco Bell ,
which can lead to obesity and
other health problems.
Solutions to Urban Sprawl: Sustainable Development
• Sustainable development is an
action plan that uses a limited
amount of resources so that
future generations will be able
to survive.
• The picture on the right is a
model of a sustainable
development called mixed-use
building. This complex will
comprise of a Whole Foods
grocery store, 400 apartments,
and several other retail stores.
Government Intervention
• If private solutions to urban sprawl
do not happen, government
intervention may be required. In
1999 Al Gore proposed a plan to
offer tax breaks to communities
that preserve green space and find
ways to relieve traffic congestion.
Even though it doesn’t seem like
much. In a world where city
budgets are shrinking more money
from the government would
motivate people to come up with
more solutions to slow down urban
sprawl.
The case for and against growth
• In many cities, a planning
commission would need to
approve the project. This body is
made up of citizens chosen to
guide a city’s growth.
• Urban Growth Creates Needed
Homes: Everyone knows that
when population grows new
homes are needed. The question
is where and to what cost to
families.
Pros
• Generally, a land in rural areas is
cheaper than city land. Building costs
in the country are lower than city.
1. This keeps new homes affordable.
2. People believe that suburbs are a
better place to live than a city.
3. New housing creates jobs for
construction workers.
4. As people move into new homes,
they spend money on
infrastructure. The new
homeowners also pay taxes. This
helps fund roads, schools, and other
city services.
Cons
• Even though everyone agrees that houses are
needed. People who are against urban sprawl
are thinking about how it effects the
environment
1.
These people argue that the worst way to
meet the need for housing is to develop
open spaces outside the city. Open spaces
are not empty land they are habitats for
plants and animals (pg. 83)
2.
When housing is spread out, people rely on
cars for transportation. This creates traffic
jams (productivity loss) and air pollution.
3.
Urban sprawl can also hurt people living in
small towns. They often see their taxes go
up when nearby land is developed. The
extra tax money is needed to pay for roads,
schools and other services that are
required when small towns grow.