What is “Urban Sprawl”

Ur-ban : 1. of, in, constituting, or comprising a city or town. 2. Characteristic of the city as distinguished from the country.

Sprawl : to spread out in an awkward or uneven way, especially as to take up more space than is necessary .

Defining what “Urban Srawl” is seems easy to do, “For urbanization to spread out in an awkward way, as to take up more land than is necessary.” However, deciding what is urban sprawl and what is healthy urban growth, is a very difficult thing to do. There are some that say any urban growth is sprawl, they represent the extreme “No Growth” crowd. Others would say that any and all urban growth is good, and we should let the market drive all land use decisions. Fortunately these people also represent an extreme group of a small minority of the population. The majority of people are somewhere in between those two views, agreeing on a number of issues, such as:

Contiguous Development vs. Leap Frog Development – Most agree that new development should start right where the old one ends, and not skip a mile or more of open land. This causes higher utility costs and causes development to “Take up more land than is necessary.”

Infill Development vs. Greenfield Development – Again, most agree that developing existing urban space is better than developing greenfields, and should be used wherever possible.

Comprehensive Planning – Planning is key to any intelligent growth, in any city or community. However, the state should not be forcing communities to create a plan.

Seven myths about sprawl By Randal O'Toole

Opposing 'urban sprawl' ... or opposing people? By James M. Taylor

Debunking Friday the 13th: 13 Myths of Urban Sprawl By Wendell Cox

Sprawl for me, but not for thee By Jerry Taylor and Peter VanDoren

Sprawl and Obesity in Chicago: Why All the Fuss? By Wendell Cox

The Crusade Against Urban Sprawl Assaulting the American Dream