Introduction Urbanization also known as urban sprawl takes place when people migrate from cities and urban areas to less populated rural areas. This sounds harmless, however urban sprawl has created detrimental environment, social, and health effects. Although this issue is prevalent everywhere in the United States, urbanization is especially common in Pennsylvania. This is a pressing public administration issue because without limitations on urban development, American’s will slowly destroy and urbanize all the available farmland. Tom Hylton, a Pottstown, Pennsylvania native and author of Save Our Land, Save Our Town and creator of the documentary, Saving Pennsylvania, dissects the effects of urban sprawl and land use in Pennsylvania. …show more content…
Some of the most notable effects of urban sprawl are loss of open space and natural habitats such as farmland, more air pollution, an increase in traffic due to longer commutes to work, and a depletion of water quality (Pope, 1999). Farmland is important to residents because it provides open space, absorbs rainwater, which improves water balance, and offers protection against flooding. Also, farmland vegetation helps air pollution by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Aside from these benefits, nutrient farmland is vital for crop production (Frenkel, 2003). Cities such as Scranton, McKeesport, Wilkes-Barre and New Castle have lost more than a third of their residents due to urban sprawl. Pennsylvania alone has lost more than four million acres of farmland since the 1950s. The area of farmland that has been lost in Pennsylvania is equivalent to the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. One may argue that Pennsylvania had to expand our cities in order to accommodate an influx of population. However, unlike rapidly growing states such as California and Florida, Pennsylvania has only seen a 20 percent population increase in the past fifty years (Hylton, 1998, …show more content…
If smaller, more compact communities were created with homes, stores, restaurants, and workplaces intermingled, Americans could get back to a life where different socio-economic classes and races were apart of the same community. Adults could walk to work and children could walk to school. Although this idea seems far-fetched it is already working in Celebration, Florida. Walt Disney World purchased the land and came up with a way to create an area that combined the suburbs and small town living (Frantz and Collins, 1999). Although it is nearly impossible to create towns like Celebration everywhere, it is a start and provides hope for this
Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.
13. Urban Sprawl: Urban sprawl refers to migration of population from high density urban areas to low density rural areas which results in spreading of city over more and more rural land. Urban sprawl results in land degradation, increased traffic, environmental issues and health issues. The ever growing demand of land displaces natural environment consisting of flora and fauna instead of being replaced.
Urbanization is inevitable, whether we want it or not. Opposers are constantly bickering about the political and moral consequences of gentrification. This topic is indeed mind boggling and complex. However, there is a need to observe this multi-faceted phenomenon in a different angle. Change is the force of diversity, safety and
There are many who suggest the solution to the decline of the suburbs is to urbanize the area by densifying and overall making the suburbs more similar to a city. Laura Vaughan argues that the development of a spatial layout similar to that of a city would help the suburbs to become more efficient socially and economically. However, this approach directly contrasts the purpose of the suburbs, which was originally meant to provide a private, quiet environment for single family homes away from loud and busy city life. In his book, “Sprawl: A Compact History,” Robert Bruegmann explains that suburbia is not a bad thing but possesses “benefits that urban planners fail to recognize” and is a natural process of the growth of urbanism. While the suburban landscape does possess much potential, those who support the continued existence of the suburbs as they exist are naive and fail to recognize the environmental, social, and economical impact that the suburbs impose. The suburbs possess many social and political issues that need to be addressed. There is no doubt that there is massive potential in the suburban
The news article I chose is titled Songbirds Divorce, Flee, and Fail to Reproduce Due to Suburban Sprawl written by Michelle Ma (2017). This news article is about one of the potential effects of suburban sprawl. Suburban sprawl is defined as the expansion of the human population away from the urban areas. Many people argue that sprawl has many negative effects on the environment such as taking agricultural lands and forests and turning them into an industrial warehouse that causes additional pollution. The negative effect on the environment in relation to this article is the displacement of wildlife that could lead to extinction.
Urban sprawl was a major problem and had many negative effects. "Suburban sprawl, “called urban sprawl was a result of overpopulation. Sprawl occurred when cities spread outward. Forests and farmland were being destroyed to create new housing subdivisions, shopping centers, offices, parking areas, civic institutions and roadways. State governments built highways and roads to serve all the new commuters moving in and out of the city. Developers chose to build on less expensive land farther away from the urban core. Land prices were lower and housing in these developments was more affordable. Some people chose a longer commute in exchange for more comfortable, low-priced housing. The sprawl was a chronological process that devastated the land and life of the American people. This problem described here continues to be a problem. And many people are unaware that urban sprawl continues to be a problem. Friendly neighborhoods, traditional pedestrian have fallen victim to this problem. Environmental activists claimed that urban sprawl, was a substantial environmental threat. But activists concerned about sprawl should concentrate on existing government policies that encourage suburban development and prevent greater redevelopment of urban areas.
Those living in a wildland urban interface area should consider the impacting risks associated with being there. "The wildland urban interface (WUI) has gained increasing importance as more Americans build homes in rural settings adjacent to public lands" (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d., para. 1). With the amount of American population having interest in building their homes around these areas, leaving governing authorities a need to carefully review the impacting effect and risk
Drivers can spend upwards $150 dollars a week on gasoline, but this is not the only negative impact driving has. Automobile inefficiency and the fact that they run on fossil fuels have detrimental and long term impacts on the environment. It has become increasingly apparent that suburban development in the future needs to focus on building communities that require less travel by traditional means and “closer knit”
Residential, commercial and industrial development is the largest contributors to landscape change in the state of New Jersey. When buildout occurs in one region, development pressure begins in another, virtually insuring the Megalopolis concept of one huge urban corridor stretching between Boston and Washington D.C. Year after year, farmland dwindles, roads become congested, and more residents are left to compete for diminishing natural resources. Desperate measures and newer technologies are incorporated to replace poor planning and lack of vision on behalf of decision-makers caught between competing interests. When the long term health and wellbeing of the established population and the short term gain of a
Step one: I will refine and update the Ewing et al. (2002) metropolitan sprawl indices to 2010This study will differ from the Ewing et al.’s 2002study in three respects. First, it will include additional metrics from various data sources such as Walk Score, NAVTEQ road data, Smart Location Databases and National Land Cover Database in order to increase validity and captures more aspects of each four dimensions (development density, land use mix, activity centering and street accessibility).
Urban sprawl has affected three major cities in many different ways. It has affected the city of Portland with wildlife being cut down for new growth. Secondly it has affected the city of Toronto with run down buildings in its urban core and the speculation on the cost of money to create things. Thirdly it affected the city of Atlanta with air pollution, people were moving out and working in the cities so that created a lot of air pollution. In this essay it addresses three cities and how urban sprawl affected them.
Burgess’s concentric zone theory was presented in 1924. He presented a descriptive urban land use model that divided cities in a set of concentric circles expanding from downtown to the suburbs. His representation came from Burgess’ observations of various American cities, especially Chicago. Burgess model assumes a relationship between the socio-economic status of households and the distance from the Central Business District. The further from the district, the better the quality of housing, but the longer the commuting time. Making this Accessing better housing is done at the expense of longer commuting times and costs as well. According to Burgess, urban growth is a process of expansion and reconversion of land uses, with a tendency of each inner zone to expand in the outer zone. According to Burgess’ theory, a large city is divided in six concentric zones, Burgess’s model has its cons according to critics. It is said to be a product of its time. That is, it won’t work the same with present cities. The model was developed when American cities were growing very fast and when motorized transportation was still uncommon as most people used public transit. Thus the concept cannot be applied to those from the second half to the twentieth century where highways have enabled urban development to escape the reconversion process and to take place directly in the suburbs. The model in this case was developed for American cities and is limited elsewhere.
New Urbanism, a burgeoning genre of architecture and city planning, is a movement that has come about only in the past decade. This movement is a response to the proliferation of conventional suburban development (CSD), the most popular form of suburban expansion that has taken place since World War II. Wrote Robert Steuteville, "Lacking a town center or pedestrian scale, CSD spreads out to consume large areas of countryside even as population grows relatively slowly. Automobile use per capita has soared, because a motor vehicle is required for nearly all human transportation"1. New Urbanism, therefore, represents the converse of this planning ideology. It stresses traditional planning, including multi-purpose zoning,
An emerging issue is that of urban sprawl. While some aspects of urban sprawl has been seen since ancient times, this phenomenon has started gaining the most momentum in the past century, aided by the advancement of technology, especially with the rise of mass produced automobiles, houses and highway systems. Many people unknowingly contribute to this environmental problem, as is the nature of it. Urban sprawl deals with the growth of the suburbs, the area between the urban and rural areas of a city. Most of America’s largest cities and states, in terms of population, are prime examples of urban sprawl. Opponents of urban sprawl usually cite the government as a major cause of sprawl. The government may be a major catalyst of
Humans have been innovating their surrounding for thousands of years. The agricultural and industrial revolution have been seen competing side by side all throughout history. Urbanization has become a tool and weapon to society throughout the importance of population growth and environmental concerns. “Human activities associated with land uses, including agricultural activities, land development, industrial discharge, residential sewage, and urban runoff can cause surface water degradation, so land use planning and management is very important for water environment protection.” (Spatial Variations…in the Watersheds of Northern Georgia, USA) Urbanization is the process where an increasing percentage of population lives in cities and suburbs. This process is often linked to the effects brought on by industrialization and modernization. According to UN-Habitat, 70% of the world’s constantly growing population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050; and of that 81.6% of the United States population will be categorized as urban. (UN-Habitat)