...URAN SPRAWL: DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDIES Throughout this article, the main focus is urban sprawl and the non-endearing remedies to fix this growing concern. Three influential forces are the end results of urban sprawl: a growing population, rising incomes, and falling commuting costs. Although these sound positive to societies well being, market failures are distorting their positive social desirability. The allocation of agricultural land converted to urban usage has justified the criticism of urban sprawl by not accounting for the benefits of open space, social costs of road congestion, and developers failing to pay for the infrastructure costs generated. The remedies projected for these market failures in hope of alleviating the spatial size of the city are developmental taxes and congestion tolls (1). Critics raise a few questions about urban sprawl and the possible remedies policy makers could enact. But, are they are justifiable? The first one is, is urban sprawl truly a growing problem affecting American society? Throughout the article, Brueckner states both views on urban sprawl: The criticism against it and how to prevent it, and the benefits of urban sprawl to American society. Another question addressed is, is urban sprawl contributing to the decay of downtown areas? With the growth of urban development, the incentive to rebuild land and housing closer to the city center is reduced. This is because developers can purchase large amounts of farmland further away from...
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...revenue-raising scheme that increases the cost of labour by mistake. In Portland, Oregon, it is an exact description of city policy. Intel, the world's largest chip maker, has recently agreed to pay the county $1,000 a year for each new person it hires once its regional workforce has increased by 1,000. And this is not for some paperclip-making factory. Intel is Portland's largest employer and the area contains the company's biggest chip-making facility, the home of the Pentium III. It seems almost un-American. Why has a hyper-competitive company (whose boss once wrote a book called “Only the Paranoid Survive”) agreed to pay for the privilege of creating jobs? Because it is based in Portland, headquarters of the reaction against “anything-goes” development. And because all over America, for the past year, people have begun to worry about the unfettered expansion of jobs, factories, houses, offices, roads and shops that goes by the name of “sprawl”. Suddenly, sprawl has started to spread itself all over America's public agenda. The Republican governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, calls the preservation of open space her most important task. The Democratic governor of Maryland, Parris Glendening, says that, education apart, “controlling sprawl is the most important issue facing us in terms of what our quality of life is going to be.” In this section Straining at the seams Alien scientists take over USA! Not quite the monster they call it Help from the Hidden Hand ...
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...Discuss the impact of the automobile’s rise on urban form during the twentieth century and critically evaluate planning measures used to limit the negative social and environmental aspects Since the rise of the automobile, there have been many dramatic changes to urban form in attempts to accommodate this new mode of transport. Focusing on America and Britain, this discussion considers influences on all scales ranging from reclassification of physical roads to the decentralization of urban cores. The rising social and environmental concerns caused by the increase in vehicle usage include pedestrian safety, residential livability, and environmental deterioration. I have decided to explore this question by considering features that have both affected urban form and also acted as planning measures to limit negative social and environmental impacts, these include motorway developments, the garden city urban planning approach and Greenbelts. With over 15 million units of Ford Motor T sold between 1908 and 1927 (Flink, 2001), urban form was most dramatically influenced in American cities during the correlating time period. Planners began to oppose the conventional Roman-grid layouts, where streets were arranged at perpendicular angles to each other. Rising traffic congestion at intersections placed pressure on city planners to reorganise the structural layout in attempts to liberate these chaotic streets. Pedestrians were heavily victimised...
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...gentlemen and fellow debaters. Tonight I, along with my fellow team mates, will convince you that Urban Sprawl should not be restricted. (We agree/disagree with the oppositions definition of this debate, state their definition) We have defined ‘urban sprawl’ to be the expansion of a metropolitan or suburban area into the surrounding environment, specifically in Australia. Thus, to restate the case, we believe that it is both unreasonable and unnecessary to prohibit urban sprawl in a thriving country like Australia. As first speaker, I will argue that restricting urban sprawl would mean restricting a city or town’s ability to expand infrastructure required for economic growth. I will then continue on...
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...reduction of valuable farmland near cities and increased urban pollution. Urban sprawl affects the environment by destroying native habitats and increasing urban pollution including air pollution from increased traffic and urban waste into waterways. There are many definitions of urban sprawl. The Heinemann Atlas states that urban sprawl means the spread of urban areas into rural areas such as farmland, forests and coastal lands that lie on the outer edges of cities. In other words, urban sprawl is described by development that increases the distance between the city center and its outer edge. (2003, HYPERLINK "http://www.hi.com.au/atlas/updates/bg.asp?subtopicid=3619" http://www.hi.com.au/atlas/updates/bg.asp?subtopicid=3619) It is estimated that 88% of the world’s population growth next century will be in urban areas. This phenomenon especially in Australia where more than 80% of the people live in cities and coastal areas. Australia’s cities however will continue to grow and the numbers of people both live and work will increase. A number of Australian cities have the problems that associated with urban sprawl. Indeed, some of Australia’s cities are considered the world’s worst in terms of their sprawling nature. For example, Perth’s metropolitan area currently spreads more than 100 kilometers in a North-South direction. The city of Wanneroo, in the Northern suburbs of Perth, is the second fastest growing urban area in Australia. (2003, HYPERLINK "http://www.hi...
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...AEP9 – ASSIGNMENT TWO: ESSAY Immoderate expansion of urban area, known as ‘urban sprawl’, becomes a wide-spreading phenomenon in most countries nowadays. This is majorly due to the improvement of mobility at all levels and the great economic benefits lying behind the sprawled urban areas. However, urban sprawl not only degrades the environment and changes global climate, but also generates a number of social problems, such as polarization and inequality. To solve the problems resulting from urban sprawl, many international organizations put technology forward as the most efficient and economically feasible approach. This essay will outline how urban sprawl results in these problems and point out the risks of depending on technologies to address environmental issues as well as its limitation to solve the social ones. In many countries in the world, urban sprawl imposes great stress on both of ecological and social well-being. In the first place, urban sprawl causes a lot of environmental problems. One of the burning issues for the international community is global warming. In order to support the running of current transportation, the utilities to warm or cool spacious houses and household appliances in neighborhoods on the outskirts of cities, energy mainly created by fossil fuels becomes greatly demanded, thus giving rise to higher emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, which is considered as one of the arch-criminals causing global warming (Gonzalez, 2005)...
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...Levittown: Visionary Urban Design or just Urban Sprawl? Gail A Bigelow April 23, 2006 University of Central Florida Levittown: Visionary Urban Design or just Urban Sprawl? Levittown isn’t a visionary product of high design, there weren’t any major architects to give it pizzazz yet it endures today, by sheer force of will, to be the working stiff’s utopia, his escape from the inner city, the place where he could get away from the noise and dust of the city, a place that was affordable, where he could be king of his own single-family detached castle, he could enhance his quality of life and be just far enough away, but not too far… After World War II the returning veterans demands for housing became more insatiable, it was a right, given what they had been through. Returning veterans were living in attics, basements and Quonset huts or sharing housing with others in the same boat. The young men and women were ready to get back to a normal life – get married and have families and that meant finding a place of their own. The houses were their reward. A single-family house in the suburbs, fully equipped with the best appliances, became a patriotic mission. Many were looking for something new and different than what they had grown up with, they wanted to get out of the inner cities. They knew they’d have to work in those cities, but they didn’t have to live there or raise a family there. During the...
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...Commuting, Transportation Spending and Urban Sprawl Roy L. Coxon April 29, 2015 Dr. Hatten My overall topic for my research project is Commuting, Transportation Spending and Urban Sprawl. The purpose of this project is to design a research study to determine and clarify what effect urban sprawl has on private-vehicle commuting costs and household expenditures. Let us first look at the definition of sprawl. There is no universally accepted definition although there have numerous attempts to institute a unified definition of this multifaceted concept. Sprawl is defined as low-density development with residential, shopping and office areas that are isolated, a lack of thriving centers and limited choices in travel routes (Ewing, 2002). Sprawl is ever-present and its effects are impacting the quality of life in every region of America, in our large cities and small towns. The contextual factors (historical) of sprawl go back to 1937 when Earle Draper first created the term “sprawl” in 1937 (Nechyba, 2004). To document the presence of urban sprawl and urban population levels is to look within urban areas at the evolving relationship between suburbs and central cities. The conversion of a primarily rural population in 1790 became increasingly centered in cities over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only about 5 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1790 as that figure tripled by 1850 and surpassed 50 percent by 1920. The 2000 Census...
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...Introduction The local issue this report will focus on is the impact of increasing population densities and urban sprawl on the CBD and surrounding areas. The issue is that an ever-increasing population and higher densities will mean worse roads and higher rate of traffic related problems, higher crime levels, fewer facilities for the general population, higher price of living, more expensive land prices and increased pollution levels as well as other problems. Since urbanisation began as a trend since the last half of the century, Australia has been facing problems accommodating the swelling population. Geographical processes relevant to the issue include • migration • urbanisation • spatial inequality • urban development • sustainability...
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...The urban sprawl: History, governing characteristics and solutions of the suburban sprawl Student’s Name Name of University The suburban sprawl: History, governing characteristics and solutions of the suburban sprawl History of the suburbs A suburb is an area on the periphery of a city or a town with a large number of people living on it, usually consisting of single family houses. These settlements have grown to the point of being self sufficient; they have their own malls, hospitals, banks and other amenities that traditionally only found in the city. Suburbs emerged in the 1800’s because of the sharp rise of the urban population and the improvement of the transport infrastructure at the time. It was during this time in history that the sprawl occurred. Cities exploded outward. Contractors started building streets and streets of brick walled houses. An example of this is the construction of suburbs in London where for a long time. One of the earliest examples of suburbs in the United States is the brilliant Llewellyn Park in New Jersey finished in 1853. The rise in suburb settlements intensified in the post World War II period because of the need to house the war veterans and the good economic conditions at the time. Higher population densities per square mile started being witnessed with the east side of Manhattan peaking at 400,000 people per square mile. The governing characteristics arising from the urban sprawl The is a sprawl affects the efficiency with which...
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...of the home’s sales price which goes to the construction costs jumped from 59 percent in both 2009 and 2011 to 62 percent in 2013(eyeonhousing.org).” The land the home is built on is a small percentage of the value of the home as well. Home prices are also based on classes of how the home is constructed and location. The usual four classes of homes built in the US can be categorized as economy home, average home, custom built, and luxury built. In some areas homes can be priced well below the construction cost. In large areas of country, like outside of city or rural areas, the price of purchase will come even closer to construction cost. Cities and suburbs on the other hand is where the prices of homes is much higher than the cost of new construction. Even though they do not represent the norm, this can be construed as pricing certain individuals out of cities and suburbs. Supply and Demand Why do some areas fair better than others when it comes to home prices? High cost areas fair better due to certain attractions, the center of gravity were all the action is. People are willing to pay more for areas they feel more secure along with other amenities like good schools, good weather, and job growth. Growing up, I can say I have experienced both, living in high cost areas and low cost areas. Just as my father, I was driven to succeed and to make things better for my family than...
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...-Chapter8 10/16/02 10:21 AM Page 176 Page 1 of 3 Urban Sprawl How can urban sprawl be controlled? Main Ideas • Many metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada have sprawled, or spread out, farther and farther. • Cities are focusing on smartgrowth solutions to urban sprawl. Places & Terms A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE Richard Baron is a real estate developer who urban sprawl infrastructure smart growth sustainable community tried to address the related problems of urban sprawl and inadequate low-income housing. In 1996, he began building Murphy Park, an affordable and attractive housing complex in mid-town St. Louis, Missouri. The development has more than 400 units and contains both apartments and townhouses. It has plenty of green space, art and day-care centers, and an elementary school. More than half of Murphy Park’s units are reserved for people with low income. Baron’s solution—to bring the attractive features of suburban living to the city—is one of many that are being applied to the problem of urban sprawl. Growth Without a Plan Those Americans and Canadians who can afford it often choose to work in a city but live in its suburbs. They are usually attracted by new, upscale housing, better public services, and open space. As suburbs become more numerous, metropolitan areas become larger and more difficult to manage. (See chart to the right.) Growth of U.S. Metropolitan Areas URBAN SPRAWL Poorly planned development that spreads a city’s population...
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...The effects of unplanned urban development 1. Problem Identification As suburban communities continue to expand, typically in a random pattern generated by the availability of cheap land that can accommodate large numbers of housing , lack of planning does not only require the concurrent expansion of community and commercial services , also scatters plague of urban extensions and environmental degradation . A lack of proper planning and urban development community also makes it harder to bring together members of the community, because the infrastructure is decentralized. * Deforestation As communities continue to expand without a well- prepared for the integration of residential areas, agriculture and business, buying and selling property plan will most likely lead to deforestation of the surrounding environment. To cut trees to clear building lots, soil often erodes. If construction zones are located near sources of water, eroded soil dry these sources, causing pollution and eliminating aquatic life forms. Depending on the topography of the area, deforestation caused by urban sprawl can increase the likelihood of flash floods and landslides. * Management of water resources Human life and health of the planet depend on a clean and healthy channels. Urban development puts pressure on aquatic ecosystems, including water supplies, which may endanger the health of waterways. Resource management is another problem for communities that do not properly plan their...
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...Urban Growth and Decline CHANGE OVER TIME The spatial nature of Sydney has changed over time. In the 1830s, Sydney was a `walking' city with densely populated urban areas such as Redfern, Woolloomooloo and Paddington close to the central business district (CBD). After 1880, Sydney evolved into a transit city due to the building of railways, which encouraged the growth of suburbs such as Parramatta. In 1932, the Harbour Bridge was opened, providing a transport link and faster access to North Shore suburbs such as Pymble. The evolution to an automobile city began after World War II and saw the growth of suburbs north (Cherrybrook), south (Menai) and west (St Marys). Faster road and rail links and the availability of cheaper housing eventually led to the development of dormitory towns for commuters in the Wollongong, Central Coast and Blue Mountains areas. URBAN SPRAWL In the 1970s and 1980s, Australian cities tended to continually grow outwards in a process known as urban sprawl. Increasing car ownership and the development of freeways gave people greater choice in where they could live and work. The development of new housing on the rural±urban fringe also encouraged the development of shops, schools, medical centres, industries and recreational facilities to support the growing population. The impact of urbanisation in these outer areas has been a loss of natural environments and changes to rural land use on the edge...
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...one thing almost everyone does every day is eat. Eating is necessary to live, and about 99% of your food is probably coming from a farmer. According to Nelson at the American Farmland Trust farmland is necessary in society providing essential goods as well as open space, environmental protection that land markets fail to account for. C. We have been using farmland for things other than farming and it needs to stop, urban development is taking over the land which is so vital to our existence. D. Farmland is being lost way too fast. Urban development is one of the biggest reasons for this loss. We need to stop using our farmland for other things. II. Body A. The amount of land that is usable for farming is very small compared to the amount of land on the earth. Coming from the researchers at farmland.org and the American Farmland Trust is this analogy. (ppt) Consider the Earth as an apple. If it was sliced into 4 pieces, 3 of these would represent water. 1 would be the land. If you were to cut this piece in half, your new piece would represent the land that cannot be used for farming living on. This leaves 1/8 of the Earth to live on as well as grow food on. ¾ of the remaining apple has soil to poor to grow food on because of roads and buildings and soils to poor to grow food on. This leaves 1/32 of the apple that has soil that we can...
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