In a recent article that I read, the issue of Urban sprawl was brought to bare. The article argued that urban sprawl is the reason for many ecological issues, and I tend to agree. This issue is very controversial as it makes economic improvement and accordingly framework advancement conceivably a negative thing, and therefore numerous organizations are attempting to claim that Urban sprawl is not an issue. Along these lines, I have investigated this topic further to investigate whether urban sprawl is undoubtedly as terrible as the original article states.
One can describe urban sprawl as a city's people region spreading further and further into more provincial regions, until rural areas become non-existent. While this dispersal and advancement of land is an issue over the world, it is exceptionally prevalent in the United States of America. “The developed acreage per person has nearly doubled in the past 20 years, and housing lots larger than 10 acres have accounted for 55 percent of land developed since 1994, according to the American Farmland Trust” (CWAC 2008).
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The examples of wildlife losing their territory are numerous, and discovered all over the place. In Vermont, the Savannah Sparrow has lost its nesting grounds because of agricultural haying practices (Faccio 2008). In Florida, beachfront property is drawing nearer and closer to the shoreline. Raccoons are increasing in number as sea turtles, tortoises, seabirds, and crab populations all decrease (Rupert 2008). Urban sprawl has also resulted in forest degradation with grasslands, oak savannas, oak and Pine Barrens lands declining rapidly. These woods are being gathered for business utilization, furthermore being cleared for further human advancement and infrastructural needs. In Wisconsin, just 1% of old world oak is left (CWAC
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.
However, they disagree on whether or not it is harming the wildlife populations in those areas. Terris says “roads and sprawling neighborhoods are replacing pristine wildlife habitats at an alarming pace, putting the survival and reproduction of plants and animals at risk.” Terris also believes it may be “the problem for U.S. wildlife in the 21st century”. (Terris) According to Terris, one victim of sprawl is the Florida panther, which has been reduced to a population of 30 to 50 adults. Furthermore, in the Sonoran Desert many plant species are affected, which also affects the animals that rely on those plants. She goes on to give numerous examples of animals and plants that are being harmed that spreads across the U.S., supporting the fact it is widespread.
The third listing for the definition of sprawl in the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is as follows: “to spread or develop irregularly”. Unfortunately, this is the pattern, or lack thereof, with which America’s development is following. Every single day the world population rises, and these new babies have to live somewhere. Due to the fact that the birth rate is larger than that of the death rate in America (http://www.bartleby.com/151/a24.html), new homes and communities must be developed to accommodate all of the incoming people. This fundamental concept is coupled by another very powerful driving force prompting people to live in the suburbs of America, and that is greed. The economy makes
The study of urban spaces, especially with respect to gentrification, has increased dramatically in significance and relevance in the past several decades. With the resurgence of city living’s popularity, urban revitalization has occurred in neighborhoods across the United States and brought with it significant economic and social change.
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.
According to Census data, 35% of people who live in the Urban Suburbs have at least Rural undergraduate degree. Tailing close behind are the big cities, with about 32% having a bachelor degree. Rural America however lags far behind with less than 20% having earned a bachelor degree (Press 2014). In 2017, The New York Times reported, that 29% of rural college-age teens were enrolled in college in comparison to 47% of urban college -age teens (Denby, 2018). There is no denying that rural America is consistently underrepresented in participation of higher education compared to their urban counterparts. In this paper, I will argue that that there is a clear opportunity gap that influences rural students in
Gentrification never happened to my neighborhood growing up. Maybe it was because I lived in a working class poor neighborhood growing up. I now live in Lincoln Park and I cannot tell you if it has been gentrified, yet I never felt segregation until I started living in Chicago. It was not the fact that predominantly black people live on the south side and white people live on the north side. It was the fact that it seems you keep to yourself. When I take the red line, I have dealt with black men hitting on me, same goes for other men of other races. Yet when I take the green line to the University of Chicago, as I sit being the only white person in the train car, it is like they are scared of me. Maybe it is a product of gentrification, that
I was shocked by the subject matter of this paper. Gentrification has been a focus of my studies as a geographer, and it has always been described as a negative element of human geography. It displaces historical residents by importing households of higher income brackets, which subsequently increases the price of housing to levels affordable to historical residents. Furthermore, it displaces historical residents, more abruptly, by introducing unfamiliar races and faces to the neighborhood, which may make historical residents feel uncomfortable or alienated from their own neighborhood of origin. To imply a global policy of "gentrification as regeneration" the same as saying it is all right to avoid helpful neighborhood redevelopment projects,
The Southern California region, east of the city Los Angeles, is characterized by densely populated urban sprawl. This region, which is renowned for its daily traffic jams and sunny clime, offers little to no unoccupied, open and accessible land spaces for persons to freely shoot their legally owned fire arms. And, despite the now common mass shootings and emerging self-actuating Jihadists bent on creating fear and terror in western society. Many wholesome and conscientious local America citizens own guns; and desire to routinely shoot their guns for recreation and pleasure. This situation creates a lucrative business opportunity; for a firm willing to provide a meaningful and safe shooting range environment. There currently exist a select
According to Dictionary.com, “gentrification is the process of renovating houses and stores in urban neighborhoods to fit the middle or upper-income families, raising property value, but often displacing low-income families.” Gentrification has been an idea since the 1960s and had an effect on countless cities and neighborhood communities. Gentrification was first used by Ruth Glass in her book London: Aspect of Change in 1964, she noted that ¨gentrification can progress rapidly until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced, and the whole social character of the district is changed.” Nonetheless, gentrification has helped revive many cities and revolutionize them, especially with technological
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