Urban Sprawl
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Urban Sprawl
- What is Sprawl?
- The term sprawl was first introduced in 1937 by one of the first city planners in the southern United States, Earle Draperone. Sprawl is defined as the “tendency toward lower city densities as city footprints expand.” In more specific terms, the term urban sprawl as used in the pattern of land development in the United States as “spread-out” or “unlimited and noncontiguous way outward” with “one- or two-story single-family residential development on lots ranging from one-third to one acre (less on the West Coast) accompanied by strip commercial centers and industrial parks, also two stories or less in height and with a similar amount of land taking.”
- Historical Perspective
- When the industrial revolution transformed the United States from an agrarian based economy to a market dominated by industry and manufacturing, cities became the dominant type of settlements. In 1790 approximately five percent of the entire population of the United States lived in areas termed “urban.” However, this figured tripled to fifteen percent by 1850 and continues to increase today. In fact, figures from the 2000 Census documents almost eighty percent of all Americans indicating that they live in urban areas.