Orum, A.M. and Hanlon, B. (2019) - Sprawl.

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Sprawl in a fragmented piecemeal fashion, and
consuming agricultural land. There is much
BERNADETTE HANLON concern that an emerging autocentric lifestyle
Ohio State University, USA in China will greatly impact global climate.
Sprawl and its effects occur in a variety of
A typical description of sprawl is a pattern countries.
of scattered low density peripheral urban There is some debate over whether or not
development. The general consensus among sprawl in the USA has accelerated in recent
commentators is that sprawl has at least one decades. In his book Sprawl: A Compact His-
or more of the following characteristics: low tory (2005), Robert Bruegmann suggests that
density of buildings and populations that suburbs have continued to grow but not nec-
results in an overconsumption of land and essarily at lower densities than before, say, the
open space; little infrastructure for walking 1970s. In fact, Bruegmann (2005, 59) argues
and public transit use but instead a reliance on that, because of large population growth in
the automobile and a large network of high- the USA, sprawl is in some ways inevitable.
ways; a lack of traditional downtowns and He also complains that some of the statistical
town centers; and the separation of residen- measures of density exaggerate sprawl. Coun-
tial settlements from workplaces and retail ties with vast largely unpopulated areas can
spaces. Sprawl is considered by many to be be included in calculations of metropoli-
inefficient from the perspective of infrastruc- tan densities. Bruegmann (2005) notes that
ture and public service provision and, in addi- Riverside County and San Diego County,
tion, scholars suggest sprawl causes social and for instance, are included in metropolitan
environmental problems. For instance, sprawl density statistics when parts of these counties
is said to encourage driving, exacerbate extend across many miles of unpopulated
commute times, and thus create air pollution. desert. There is much confusion and debate
Low density sprawling residential develop- over what exactly is meant by sprawl, and
ment is prevalent in North America. This type how it ought to be measured. Despite shared
of suburbanization, however, exists in other characteristics, sprawl is an ambiguous and
countries. In Australia and New Zealand, for contested concept.
instance, large tracts of low density detached
housing surround many large cities. Perth is MEASURING AND DEFINING SPRAWL
considered to have the highest level of sprawl
in Australia. Recent scholarly research notes Some scholars measure sprawl by focusing on
that sprawl is occurring in parts of Latin straightforward density measures, examining
America as the peripheries of cities there in a US context, for instance, the number
spread out in the form of dispersed, auto- of residents of a metropolitan area in high
centric, residential development and strip or low density census tracts (Lopez and
malls (Herzog 2014). China has experienced Hynes 2003) or census blocks (Laidley 2016).
extensive urbanization in recent decades and These studies use geographic information
cities like Beijing have witnessed peripheral systems (GIS) technology to spatially analyze
development that is lower density, occurring the ways in which growth occurs, and the
The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. Edited by Anthony Orum.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0318
10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0318, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0318 by Consorci De Serveis Universitaris De Catalunya, Wiley Online Library on [10/01/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
2 SPR AW L
primary source of data is the US Bureau of the Angeles, often described as a quintessential
Census. Others develop highly sophisticated sprawling region, is actually reasonably com-
multidimensional frameworks to depict pact. Indices of sprawl highlight the complex
sprawl. One of the first to use such sophisti- nature of the sprawl phenomenon. This is
cated techniques was a US study by Galster especially important when we move to a
et al. (2001). They proposed six dimensions global context. Sprawl measures included
of sprawl: density, measured as residential in any index may need to be different in
units per square mile of developable land; different countries. The architecture, density,
centrality, measured as the degree to which and visual form of suburbanization in the
development in close to the central business USA and Latin America or parts of Asia, for
district (CBD); nuclearity, which considered instance, diverge, and so measures of sprawl
the extent to which there is more than one ought to reflect these differences.
employment or business center in a region;
continuity, which measures the degree to
CAUSES OF SPRAWL
which development is continuous rather
than broken up or consistent with a more
There is much debate about what causes
“leapfrog” pattern; concentration measured
sprawl. Some argue that sprawl is a “natural”
as the degree to which development is con-
consequence of population growth, rising
centrated rather than spread out across the
incomes, low travel costs, and people’s prefer-
urban area; and, finally, the degree to which
ences. People choose to live in the suburban
development is clustered together within
each square mile of an urban area. Cutsinger fringe because that is where the good public
et al. (2005) updated this study and added schools are located, and where crime rates are
mixed-use development as another dimen- lowest. Compared to cities, sprawling sub-
sion. Both studies found that urban areas urbs have the most attractive retail services,
rank high on some dimensions but not oth- housing, and goods. Businesses locate there
ers, suggesting that the depiction of sprawl is because that is where they can make a profit.
highly dependent on the different factors or Yet, others stress that sprawl is the result of
dimensions being considered. governmental policy, and that in fact the frag-
In many instances, sprawl indices have mented nature of political structures within
been developed to rank counties and metropolitan regions plays a significant role,
metropolitan areas in the USA from the most at least in the USA.
compact to the most sprawling. Such indices In the context of US federal policy, subsi-
combine several dimensions into one or a few dies for homeownership and the automobile
composite measures. For example, Ewing, have been very important in the develop-
Pendall, and Chen (2003), combined a num- ment of suburbs. In the 1930s, the federal
ber of variables into a few factors representing government subsidized mortgage insurance,
density, land-use mix, the degree of centrality resulting in the evolution of the 30-year
or strength of activity centers and downtown, mortgage coupled with a standard 20 percent
and street connectedness. Later work added down payment that made homeownership
walkability data (Ewing and Hamidi 2014). possible for many households who previously
In these studies, they found that some of the would never have been able to afford to
most sprawling metropolitan areas in the buy a home. The federal government over-
USA include Atlanta, Nashville, and Baton whelmingly insured mortgages for loans to
Rouge. Surprisingly, they also found that Los purchase housing in the suburbs, much of
SPR AW L 3
which was standardized and mass produced. suburban sprawl at the regional scale chal-
The government-sponsored entities of Fannie lenging, especially in light of the fact that
Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae stimu- land-use regulation and zoning occurs largely
lated the secondary mortgage market and at the local level.
mortgage, lending primarily to purchase new
suburban homes. Tax breaks to homeown- CONSEQUENCES OF SPRAWL
ers with mortgages further encouraged the
demand for housing in the suburban fringe. The ways in which commentators discuss the
In addition, the construction of the federal effects of sprawl are often around the concept
highway system with passage of the Federal of costs, identifying ways in which sprawl is
Highway Act of 1956 made the periphery inefficient and creates negative externalities
of metropolitan regions far more accessible. that incur environmental, economic and
Other infrastructure subsidies had similar social costs to the public at large. This section
effects. For instance, federal funding for describes the ways in which sprawl impacts
wastewater treatment facilities and pipelines the natural environment, public health, and
contributed to sprawl. Within this context, the social segregation.
initial design of sewer interceptors encour-
aged excess capacity that led to more subur- Environment and sprawl
ban development (Binkley et al. 1975). In the To make way for houses, infrastructure, fac-
US context, federal government policies were tories, and office complexes, land is graded
central to the evolution of suburban sprawl. and built upon. In the context of sprawl
Commentators suggest that sprawl is also development, land consumption fragments
the result of poor land-use regulation on the agricultural landscapes and, if not sufficiently
part of local government. In 1926, the US regulated, results in the loss of environmen-
Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality tally sensitive areas such as wetlands and
of zoning regulations in the famous case of the wildlife habitats.
Village of Euclid vs. Ambler Realty Company Because sprawl encourages the separation
which helped put in place single-use zoning, of land uses, it is necessary for residents in
afterwards referred to as Euclidean zoning. sprawling metropolitan areas to drive every-
Suburban zoning laws basically encourage the where, even very short distances. Comparing
separation of land uses. Local governments the USA to Europe, per capita vehicle miles
in the US create zoning rules, building codes, traveled in Europe are about 40 percent of
and subdivision regulations that result in those in the USA, despite the fact that in both
large lot single-family housing development. places the overwhelming majority of trips
Some argue that local governments have an are less than 10 miles. In the USA, it is not
incentive to develop this type of housing so much that people drive longer distances
since it attracts higher income groups and is than they do in Europe but rather they drive
competitively priced in ways that help expand much more often (Squires 2002). Reliance
the local tax base. This argument suggests that on driving because of sprawl has negative
local governments must develop in ways that consequences for the environment, including
enable them to remain competitive within air pollution, poor water quality, and global
the metropolitan region. At the same time, warming.
the fragmented and competitive nature of Gasoline-powered automobiles create
the suburban metropolis makes controlling pollutants that end up in the air that we
4 SPR AW L
breathe. The pollutants from driving private streams, thus destroying the habitat for fish,
cars contribute, along with pollution from bugs, and other aquatic animals.
industry, to the development of smog and
ozone. In the context of climate change and Public health and sprawl
global warming, burning fossil fuels for trans- The impact of sprawl on air quality has pub-
portation increases levels of carbon dioxide
lic health implications. Humans breathe in
(CO2 ) in the atmosphere, trapping solar
particulate matter that is in the air as a result
heat on the earth’s surface. Transportation
of gasoline-powered automobiles. This can
accounts for about one-third of greenhouse
create different health problems including
gas emissions in the USA (Squires 2002). The
asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. Deter-
relationship between driving and patterns
mining the exact relationship between sprawl,
of urban development is complicated. The
air quality, and subsequent health outcomes
focus is often on the relationship between
is extremely challenging research. The Clean
low density development and automobile use
Air Act, first passed in 1963 and amended
but it is more nuanced, incorporating other
many times with the advent of a more scien-
factors including destination accessibility,
tific understanding of the impact of various
defined as distance to downtown, and various
pollutants, requires metropolitan regions
design metrics such as street connectivity
to meet national standards for ambient air
and intersection density (Ewing and Cervero
2010). Building well-designed places close quality. Nonattainment regions are required
to the city center is more likely to reduce to put in place different strategies to improve
driving, and centrally located compact devel- regional air quality. Urban planning plays
opment can lead to lower CO2 emissions a significant role when it helps reduce our
(Glaeser and Kahn 2010). reliance on automobiles by the promotion
The autocentric development character- of public transit use and transit-oriented
istic of sprawl creates the need for large development.
parking lots, many roadways, and other In recent years, there has been lots of
forms of impervious surface coverage. The research on the relationship between the
pollutants from gasoline-powered automo- design of urban environments and physical
biles and from the atmosphere gather on activity. The Robert Wood Johnson Foun-
impervious surfaces, and when it rains these dation’s Active Living Research Program,
pollutants wash off and end up in local rivers whose aim was to improve the population’s
and streams and eventually in the seas and level of physical activity, helped fund some
oceans. This stormwater runoff has nega- of this research. Studies that consider the
tive impacts on water quality and aquatic relationship between sprawl, physical activ-
ecosystems, and can cause severe flooding. In ity, and poor health outcomes assume that
addition, scattered low density development people who live in sprawling suburbs do
far away from existing sewer and water lines not get the opportunity to walk because
means homeowners on the suburban fringe these suburbs are typically designed only
rely on septic systems and wells for waste for driving. Reid Ewing and his colleagues
removal and drinking water. These systems used their sprawl indices to determine the
often have negative effects on water quality relationship between sprawl and physical
and stream biota, most especially when septic activity, obesity, and morbidity, finding that
systems leak into groundwater, and when the sprawl is positively associated with body
overuse of wells dries out local rivers and mass index (BMI), heart disease, high blood
SPR AW L 5
pressure, and diabetes (e.g., Ewing et al. resources move outward to the suburban
2014). Their work suggests that creating more fringe. Many poor minorities in the city core
compact development may reduce obesity and inner-ring suburbs are left behind. The
and associated chronic diseases. low density nature of sprawl development
Urban Sprawl and Public Health, edited implies that there are even greater distances
by Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and between the different income and racial
Richard Jackson, outlines in detail the ways groups. Because of the politically fragmented
in which the built environment impacts nature of the suburban metropolis, fiscal
health. One chapter deals with the impact of disparities between cities and suburbs as
sprawl on traffic-related deaths and injuries.
well as among different types of suburbs are
They state that automobiles claim more than
exacerbated. This means that jurisdictions
40,000 lives each year in the USA (Frumkin,
with a high concentration of poor people do
Frank, and Jackson 2004). The fact that
not have the adequate tax resources to ensure
people living in sprawling metropolitan areas
must rely on driving to get around exposes good services and schools. This further inten-
them to dangers associated with this mode sifies segregation as middle-class families
of transportation. In addition to the problem avoid living in jurisdictions where public
of traffic-related deaths and injuries, sprawl services and schools are less than adequate.
and its associated reliance on driving also
impacts our mental health. Psychologists LIMITING SPRAWL
suggest that commuting long distance by car
and being stuck in traffic are sources of stress Distraught by low density, auto-dependent
and stress-related health problems. Road rage suburbanization, urban planners and design-
is a significant problem and, while reasons ers, environmentalists, and civic leaders have
why it occurs need further investigation, it is sought a new perspective. In the advent of
believed that both traffic volume and travel the postwar suburban boom of the 1950s and
distance are contributing factors. 1960s, the public became more and more
Segregation and sprawl concerned about land preservation. Around
this time, cities and counties began to pass
Sprawl is related to economic and racial different ordinances to restrict the use of sep-
segregation because it creates a separation tic tanks, to curb soil erosion and stormwater
between income classes and races. One of
runoff, and to prevent development in envi-
the ways this occurs is that new housing
ronmentally sensitive areas. The rise of the
built in the suburbs often only caters to
environmental movement in the 1960s and
high income groups and, combined with the
1970s led to passage of a number of laws
problem of racial discrimination, this means
the outer suburbs are not as accessible to including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water
low income minority populations. Because Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Fed-
of zoning regulations, there are a limited eral, state, and local governments in the USA
number of suburban housing options for the began to monitor air and water quality with
poor. There are few apartment complexes, for implications on growth-related pollution and
instance, built in the outer suburbs and most the destruction of wildlife habitats. Begin-
of the suburban housing is owner occupied ning in the 1960s, state governments became
rather than available for rent. Sprawl means more involved in monitoring urban growth.
that many people, jobs, schools, and other For instance, state governments in Hawaii,
6 SPR AW L
Florida, California, and Vermont passed dif- concentrate development at higher densities
ferent types of legislation that in one way or and closer to the traditional urban core. Smart
another aimed at preventing development in Growth refers to those policies and planning
certain zones and encouraging urban growth strategies that seek to build in places with
in particular places. In 1973, Oregon estab- existing infrastructure in a compact manner
lished a program requiring local jurisdictions with a variety of housing options and close to
in the state to develop comprehensive plans public transit, amenities and jobs. Probably
tied to statewide goals aimed at curbing the state most renowned for its Smart Growth
suburban sprawl and preventing the loss of program is Maryland. There have been lots
open space and farmland. Oregon’s statewide of studies to determine the effectiveness of
land-use goals are also linked to metropolitan Maryland’s program on limiting sprawl across
transportation planning in ways that aim the state. Results from these studies suggest
to reduce reliance on the automobile and that the program has had mixed success.
encourage the use of public transit. Studies find that much urban growth in the
In 1979, the metropolitan region of Port- state has been successfully concentrated in
land, Oregon adopted an urban growth targeted growth areas but some suggest that
boundary (UGB) restricting development in these growth areas would likely have received
areas of rural and open land while targeting much of the development regardless of the
development in denser and more urban parts Smart Growth initiative. There are certainly
of the region. At the same time, a regional challenges with successfully trying to control
government called Metro was created in Port- and limit sprawl. Some critics suggest that
land. Metro is the only regional government Smart Growth and other similar growth man-
in the USA with a legislative council elected agement programs are unlikely to be effective
directly by regional voters. Metro is respon- as long as local governments maintain exclu-
sible for, among other things, land-use and sive power over local zoning and land use.
regional transportation planning, the region’s Smart Growth communities are in many
waste disposal system, and management and respects synonymous with New Urbanist
development of regional greenspaces. Metro developments. Similar to Smart Growth
also has the authority to require local gov- advocates, New Urbanists focus on changing
ernments to follow regional planning goals. the physical design of neighborhoods to make
There are scholars and commentators who them more walkable, inclusive of different
suggest that preventing urban sprawl leads housing styles with a mix of land uses, and
to increased housing prices and thus creates an opportunity to use public transit. One of
problems related to housing affordability. the latest ways that New Urbanism attempts
There has been much debate over the impact to change suburban environments is through
of Portland’s UGB on regional housing prices. suburban retrofitting. This involves redesign-
Some scholars suggest it leads to higher house ing traditional suburbia to become denser,
prices, others that there is no negative impact more walkable, and more mixed use rather
on housing affordability. than continue on its current path of separate
States and local governments have atte- land uses and an overreliance on the automo-
mpted to limit sprawl using incentive-based bile. Advocates of suburban retrofitting focus
strategies. Beginning in the 1990s, propo- in part on the adaptive reuse of old strip malls
nents of Smart Growth sought to control or reuse of commercial space, with a target
urban growth by providing incentives of creating more sustainability and increased
for developers and local jurisdictions to density. Many local suburban jurisdictions in
SPR AW L 7
the USA have moved away from traditional Finally, there needs to be more research
Euclidean zoning and embraced form-based on suburban redevelopment. At the moment,
codes and planned unit development (PUD) there is little empirical work that determines
codes to create more regulatory flexibil- the extent of suburban retrofitting and sub-
ity to enable mixed-use and more dense urban densification that is occurring across
development. the USA or elsewhere. More work needs to be
done to better understand the nature of this
process, how widespread it might be, and its
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN SPRAWL
potential effects on the natural environment
RESEARCH
and social equity.
As urbanization processes continue to take SEE ALSO: Density; Health in Cities;
hold globally, there is need to consider the Metropolitan Area; Metropolitan Governance;
ways in which sprawl may be different in dif- Regional Planning; Regionalism;
ferent countries. Thus far, much of the work Suburbanization; Sunbelt; Urban Planning;
Urban Sustainability
on measuring and understanding sprawl has
focused on the US context. A future direction REFERENCES
for research is to develop measures for sprawl Binkley, C., B. Collins, L. Kanter, M. Alford, M.
in different contexts. This is more possi- Shapiro. 1975. Interceptor Sewers and Urban
ble with the availability of remote sensing Sprawl. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
imagery and other large-scale data sets. Bruegmann, Robert. 2005. Sprawl: A Compact His-
tory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
In addition, there is increased interest
Cutsinger, J., G. Galster, H. Wolman, R. Han-
in the use of autonomous vehicles with the son, and D. Towns. 2005. “Verifying the
evolution of technology such as Google’s Multi-Dimensional Nature of Metropolitan
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If cars can drive themselves, a four-hour com- Measurement of Sprawl.” Journal of Urban
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ment. Urban sprawl could reach hundreds of 265–294.
miles from the CBD as a result. A future area Ewing, R., and S. Hamidi. 2014. “Smart Growth
for research is around the potential impacts America: Measuring Sprawl 2014.” Accessed on
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urban growth. S. Coleman, and J. Freihage. 2001. “Wrestling
8 SPR AW L
Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and Measur- FURTHER READING

ing an Elusive Concept.” Housing Policy Debate, Burchell, R. W., et al. 1998. Costs of Sprawl Revis-
12(4): 681–717. ited. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Glaeser, E. L., and M. E. Kahn. 2010. “The Green- Ewing, R. 2008. “Characteristics, Causes and
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Urban Development.” Journal of Urban Eco- Ecology: An International Perspective on the
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Herzog, L. 2014. Global Suburbs: Urban Sprawl by J. Marzluff, E. Shulenberger, W. Endlicher,
from the Rio Grande to Rio de Janeiro. New York, M. Alberti, G. Bradley, C. Ryan, C. ZumBrun-
NY: Routledge. nen, and U. Simon, 519–535. New York, NY:
Laidley, T. 2016. “Measuring Sprawl: A New Index, Springer.
Recent Trends, and Future Research.” Urban Hayden, D. 2004. A Field Guide to Sprawl. New
Affairs Review, 52(1): 66–97. York, NY: Norton.
Lopez, R., and H. P. Hynes. 2003. “Sprawl in the
1990s: Measurement, Distribution, and Trends.”
Urban Affairs Review, 38(3): 325–355.
Squires, G. 2002. Urban Sprawl: Causes, Conse-
quences and Policy Responses. Washington, DC:
Urban Institute.

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10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0318, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0318 by Consorci De Serveis Universitaris De Catalunya, Wiley Online Library on [10/01/2023].

Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and Measur- FURTHER READING

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