Understanding Sprawl

They say sprawl destroys more than two million acres of open space each year, including farmland...However, these numbers can be misleading. Only about five per cent of North American land has been developed, so there’s probably enough room for you in the ’burbs...

...urban planning is only half the problem. Sanctions and taxation cannot stop sprawl, because they fail to address our rapid population growth...

The costs of congestion are alarming...Will forced densification fix this? Not necessarily....

...Many cities would respond by investing in light rail and other forms of public transit. But the sad truth is North Americans will not give up the freedom afforded by cars for anything.

Perhaps the most effective argument against sprawling communities is, well, look at them. Endless tracts of dull, charmless, cookie-cutter homes and dreary strip malls....

the greatest obstacle to addressing sprawl relates less to technical issues than to basic human values and attitudes."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan