6.5 Urban Sustainability

Urban Sprawl and Its Costs

Urban sprawl is the unplanned, low-density spread of cities outward, driven by cheap land, highways, and auto-dependence. It causes traffic congestion, longer commutes, loss of farmland, and higher infrastructure costs. New Urbanism counters sprawl by designing walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with housing, jobs, and shops close together, reducing car dependency.

Smart Growth Policies

Smart growth policies aim to make cities more sustainable by limiting outward expansion and encouraging efficient land use. Tools include greenbelts (protected open land rings around cities), growth boundaries (legal limits on development), and transit-oriented development (TOD), which clusters dense housing and business near public transit stops.

Sustainable Urban Design & Environmental Issues

Sustainable cities address issues like gentrification, affordable housing, and environmental justice while reducing ecological footprints. Strategies include mixed-land use, green building codes, expanded public transit, and infill development (building on vacant urban lots). These reduce sprawl's environmental impact and improve quality of life for existing residents.

Key terms

Urban sprawl

Unplanned, low-density outward expansion of a city, often driven by cheap land and automobile use.

New Urbanism

Planning approach promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods to reduce dependence on cars.

Smart growth

Policies designed to limit sprawl and promote efficient, sustainable land use in cities.

Greenbelt

A ring of protected open or agricultural land surrounding a city that limits outward expansion.

Transit-oriented development (TOD)

Dense, mixed-use development clustered around public transit stops to reduce car dependency and sprawl.

Try an AP-style question

Smart growth policies aim to…

1. encourage sprawl at the city's edge
2. limit sprawl with compact development
3. expand highways and nothing else
4. eliminate public transit systems