Urban Sprawl/ Leap-Frog Development

Urban sprawl

Urban sprawl is the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and
roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. In addition to describing a
special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences
associated with this development.

Since the advent of the industrial era, sprawl has entailed no direct disadvantages, such as the loss of
protection from medieval city walls. However, its disadvantages and costs include increased travel
time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of countryside. The term urban sprawl is highly
politicized and almost always has negative connotations. It is criticized for causing environmental
degradation, intensifying segregation, and undermining the vitality of existing urban areas and is
attacked on aesthetic grounds. The pejorative meaning of the term means that few openly support
urban sprawl as such. The term has become a rallying cry for managing urban growth.

(Urban sprawl is basically another word for urbanization. It refers to the migration of a population
from populated towns and cities to low density residential development over more and more rural
land. The end result is the spreading of a city and its suburbs over more and more rural areas.)

Leapfrog development

Leapfrog development occurs when developers skip over land to obtain cheaper land further away from
cities, thus, leaving huge areas empty between the city and the new development. It can be seen when
it comes to the development or urbanization of more rural areas. Leapfrog development can occur for
numerous reasons. Often, developers are more likely to hold onto land closer to cities and instead
develop less valuable land further from urban centers. Moreover, some developers prefer to build in
large open areas as it can be easier and less restricted than building in cities. Other reasons for leapfrog
development include household preferences, available amenities, minimized commutation costs and the
costs and regulations involved in construction. Leapfrog developments can have several common
problems, including vacant land left between cities and developments, inefficient land distribution,
increased pollution due to an increase in traffic and congestion, and the extension of amenities that can
be costly.

Causes of Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is a term that is used for politicizing a number of issues since the very advent of the
industrial era. Mostly used for negative criticisms and to highlight mainly the environmental effects of
industrialization, the term urban sprawl is very frequently used today. It has become the cry that urges
everyone to try to control what is known as the “urban growth.”

1. Lower Land Rates

Land and residences in the city's outlying suburbs are less expensive since the city's growth has
prompted people want to move farther out.
2. Improved Infrastructure

Roads and electricity are two examples of infrastructures that have seen a rise in investment. If you live
in a region that doesn't offer these privileges, you may want to consider moving there. The fact that
they're not actively working on it doesn't imply they aren't.

3. The Rise in Standard of Living

There are also increases in standards of living and average family incomes, which means that people
have the ability to pay more to travel and commute longer distances to work and back home.

4. Lack of Urban Planning

People seek for less crowded, calmer regions, leading them to spread out to various parts of town. Rare
development, tree-cutting, loss of green cover, lengthy traffic congestion, and bad infrastructure push
residents to relocate.

5. Lack of Proper Laws that can Regulate Urban Planning

Regulating unconstrained processes may be tricky. So it is with urban sprawl. Because there are no solid
regulations governing urbanization, it becomes an unregulated process that exacerbates the issue of
urban sprawl.

6. Lower House Tax Rates

Properties in cities often have high property tax bills, and residents in the outer suburbs may typically
escape these costs by choosing to live in a location where the taxes are cheaper than they would be in
other locations.

7. The Rise in Population Growth

Another factor that contributes to urban sprawl is the rise in population growth. As the number of
people in a city grows beyond capacity, the local communities continue to spread farther and farther
from city centers.

8. Consumer Preferences

High-income groups demand larger houses, bedrooms, balconies, and lawns. The lack of this choice in
dense cities creates urban sprawl. People seek for low-density residential zones where they can live
comfortably.Effects of Urban Sprawl

Now, we will take a look at the effects of urban sprawl since we have taken a closer look at the causes
of it. Some of these effects include:

1. Increase in Public Expenditure

They may contribute to rising public expenses since modifications in infrastructure and buildings must
be paid for by someone, generally the taxpayers.
2. Increased Traffic

Populations will begin to rely more heavily on automobiles, resulting in increased traffic congestion on
the roads, as well as increased air pollution and the likelihood of automobile accidents, which you will
have to contend with.

3. Health Issues

When the population density of a particular place increases by leaps and bounds, there are diseases that
spread like wildfire sometimes. Especially the highly communicable diseases like chickenpox and some
others like it might spread very quickly.

4. Sanitation Issues

Sanitation may become a major concern in highly populated places as population grows. Since
appropriate planning is usually a key difficulty in urbanization, it is logical that urban spreading might
quickly lead to sanitation issues.

5. Environmental Issues

Sprawls may also generate environmental difficulties that you should know about. In fact, if you want to
develop these grounds, you will have to consider the species that lives there. You will be displacing
them, which might generate environmental ripples.

6. Impact on Social Lives

People's social life are affected as well when they relocate farther away from their homes. They don't
have as many close neighbors as they should, therefore they won't be able to maintain the level of
socialization that they should.

(This isn’t always the case, but it is something that should be taken note of. Humans are a social being,
and remaining connected with other people is very necessary for proper living. The lack of contact
might lead to some very complicated mental disorders in human beings.)

Solutions to Urban Sprawl

Every problem has one or more solutions. It is only necessary to understand the problem inside out.
Urban sprawl cuts off neighborhoods in a manner where the inhabitants are bound to be reliant on their
cars even for their day to day needs. The organization or the planning is so poor that there is no
sustainability in it. In fact, the entire thing is very inconvenient.

3. Application of Some Smart Planning

In order to prevent urban sprawling, Smart growth or mixed growth could be encouraged by the
architects. In these types of plans, the residential, commercial and the workplace are not separated. This
saves a lot of space. The planning becomes compact, and living becomes even more sustainable.

As you can see, urban sprawl is something that will continue to occur as long as we live here on earth. It
isn’t something that is going to change, but over time the more rural areas are going to become more
populated because of development and change. This can be considered a good thing at times, but
others view it as a bad thing.

 Founded Conserve Energy Future (2020, August 2). Causes, effects and solutions to urban sprawl
(migration of a population). Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-urban-sprawl.php.
 Project, C. S. (2018, June 25). Solutions to solving urban sprawl. Key Biscayne Citizen Scientist
Project. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.keyscience.org/solutions-to-solving-
urban-sprawl/.

In anticipating urban growth and urban sprawl, therefore, the allotment of land, buildup of

infrastructure, establishment of governing institutions, and provision of funds that will make such

nexus effective and efficient should be planned for. In the same vein, making such nexus work

should be planned for when addressing urban congestion and proliferation of slums.

Urban sprawl was already being experienced in Manila in the 1880s and a sort of mass

transport system that would also serve areas outside Intramuros was deemed needed. Thus, in

1882, investments for the first mass transport system for an urban area in the Philippines began

with the founding of the La Compania de Tranvias de Filipinas. Between 1885 and 1889, the

company constructed a network of five lines of tranvia (streetcars or omnibuses), with a central

station outside the walls of Intramuros. Tranvias in four of the lines were horse-drawn and one

line ran on steam (Satre 1998).

Moreover, there are key problems in

economic and environmental infrastructure. These are:

 Acute shortage of potable water. It is estimated that less than 50% of the urban

population have access to piped water or individual household connections, making

waterborne diseases a major public health concern.

 Inadequate sanitation coverage and poor services. Communal sewer systems are

usually absent in urban areas, storm-water drains are often used for wastewater

disposal, there is little or no treatment in existing septage collection systems, and

investment on proper wastewater treatment is seldom undertaken.

 Frequent flooding and rising flood damage. Flooding is a recurring problem and is

aggravated by uncontrolled building, informal settlements, lack of appropriate building

codes and enforcement of regulations, encroachments onto river rights-of-way,

indiscriminate dumping of solid waste, sedimentation, and the lack of maintenance of

watercourses.

 Poor solid waste disposal. About two-thirds of existing disposal sites are open dumps

and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste onto open areas and watercourses occur.

 Inefficient urban transport. In most Philippine towns and cities, road networks are

poor. Moreover, traffic control devices, such as traffic signs, signals, and road markings,

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often do not conform to official standards or meet needs. Mass rail transport system is

available only in Metro Manila and there have been no additional lines after the

operation of Line 2 in 2003.

Urban competitiveness. This is to be promoted through such strategies as increasing

the productivity and efficiency of urban industrial regions, building on existing strengths

of manufacturing and producer services, and focusing on export-oriented activities in

globally competitive, core export areas (e.g., greater Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao

City).

(2) Poverty reduction. This is to be achieved by: enhancing rural–urban linkages to

improve labor mobility and connectivity among rural producers and urban consumers;

managing population growth by encouraging smaller families; and implementing

livelihood, entrepreneurial, and human resource programs aimed at poverty alleviation.

(3) Housing affordability and delivery. This is to be pursued by linking development plans
with local economic investment programs, unlocking land for affordable housing,

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increasing funding of proven programs and institutions, and streamlining housing

development transaction processes.

(4) Sustainable communities. This is to be promoted by using market-based incentives

and disincentives to ensure that public amenities support urban land-use objectives,

encouraging sustainable planning and green building, and integrating climate change

adaptation and disaster risk management into community and regional development.

(5) Performance-oriented governance. This is to be implemented by: providing incentives

for local government units to become less dependent on the internal revenue allotment;

strengthening their capacity for strategic planning, investment programming, budgeting,

and implementation; improving vertical coordination; increasing transparency and

accountability; supporting public–private partnerships; encouraging performance-based

local governance; and supporting metro (interlocal) jurisdictional cooperation. Increasing urbanization in
the Philippines will involve major adjustments in housing and

employment provision, consumption patterns, and social interactions. If we are to look at history,

there are evidences of urban development planning with a physical infrastructure focus, yet the

urban development plans of today, in Metro Manila and other cities, seem to forget the

infrastructure focus and the need to facilitate the circulation of people within and between the

production spaces and social spaces. What is needed, aside from urban development

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frameworks, are actual physical plans or master plans that, among others, safeguard land for

utilities and infrastructure decades ahead, deliberately configures transport networks (including

strategic seaports, controlled expressways and, if needed, railway extension to suburbs) to

induce factor mobility, and actively aims for removal of slums and renewal after removal.

However, it appears that at the national level, the Philippines’ medium-term urban development

plans have been overly focused on housing, and at the local government level, the so-called

Comprehensive Land Use Plans have been overly emphasizing land use conversions and

zoning and do not have deliberate and operational plans framed by an overarching long-term
vision of an interconnected archipelago.