Katz, Bruegmann Square Off On Sprawl

The planning pundits can agree on some ideas, but have both failed to address a key point, writes C. Kenneth Orski.

1 minute read

March 23, 2006, 8:00 AM PST

By David Gest


"Sprawl has been blamed for everything, from gobbling farmland and creating a bland and vacuous suburbia to promoting obesity and global warming. Now comes Robert Bruegman, professor of art history, architecture and urban planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a refreshingly contrarian view. In his new book, Sprawl: A Compact History (University of Chicago Press, 2005) Bruegman argues that the phenomenon of 'sprawl,' i.e. metropolitan decentralization, is as old as urbanization itself. In a recent event sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute, the think tank of the middle-of-the road Democratic Leadership Council, Bruegman engaged in a spirited debate with Bruce Katz, Director of Metropolitan Policy at the Brookings Institution."

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 in The Slatin Report

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