Author Claims Suburban Sprawl Is Beneficial

Robert Bruegmann, author of "Sprawl: A Compact History" claims that even ancient settlements had sprawl, and that it's a good thing.

1 minute read

December 10, 2005, 1:00 PM PST

By Brenda Meyer


"But he's emerging as the unlikely champion of what we've called, at least since the 1950s, "sprawl." His counterintuitive new book, "Sprawl: A Compact History," charts the spreading of cities as far back as 1st century Rome â€" and finds the process not just deeply natural but often beneficial for people, societies and even cities.

The Boston Globe has called Bruegmann "the Jane Jacobs of suburbia," after the urban historian who celebrated the serendipitous, high-density warren of Greenwich Village and other old neighborhoods."

Friday, December 9, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

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