Book Description
In Urban Sprawl and Public Health, Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, three of the nation's leading public health and urban planning experts explore an intriguing question: How does the physical environment in which we live affect our health? For decades, growth and development in our communities has been of the low-density, automobile-dependent type known as sprawl. The authors examine the direct and indirect impacts of sprawl on human health and well-being, and discuss the prospects for improving public health through alternative approaches to design, land use, and transportation.

Urban Sprawl and Public Health offers a comprehensive look at the interface of urban planning, architecture, transportation, community design, and public health. It summarizes the evidence linking adverse health outcomes with sprawling development, and outlines the complex challenges of developing policy that promotes and protects public health. Anyone concerned with issues of public health, urban planning, transportation, architecture, or the environment will want to read Urban Sprawl and Public Health. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An excellent review of the science linking sprawl & public health
This book provides an excellent overview of the science linking sprawl and public health that will be useful to both public health professionals less familiar with planning and planners less familiar with public health.Dr. Frumkin's message is clear: urban sprawl is having a detrimental impact on many aspects of public health.However, his tone remains objective and hence more useful.Moreover, the references alone make the book a very valuable text for all professionals working in this area.

Public Health input essential for Urban Planning
The Europeans are way ahead of our efforts to consider health issues in the urban planning process. This book provides a history and direction to address urban sprawl and understand well the health implications of reckless or solely market-driven city planning. After all, no built community will have sustainability, if its populations are at risk for chronic and acute illness.

Presented are the ingredients to make our cities safer and livable.This is a must read for City Planners, County officials, and anyone interested in cleaning up our urban communities with an eye toward social equity and environmental justice.MJY

The dis ease of living in the US
The costs of sprawl are enormous.This book describes the costs in terms of many different types of public health measurements.If you haven 't thought about sprawl, this is a good place to start.It is chilling to think about how many physical, emotional, psychological and medical ramifications there are to the US automobile lifestyle.The price to degradation of the planet was not discussed in depth but that too would make you think about our legacy of our lifestyle to the quality of our planet for future generations. I am encouraged that the topic is being developed.The automobile lifestyle is addictive and to change it will require a paradigm shift.The shift starts with organized discussions and lucidly presented data.This book is excellent on both accounts.

reasonably well done
A broad (though not particularly deep) guide to the public health problems associated with sprawl, including: (1) the air pollution caused by sprawl-induced auto traffic, (2) the health consequences of the reduction in walking caused by automobile dependency, (3) injuries and deaths from auto traffic, (4) water quality problems associated with suburban development, (5) the alleged intangible costs of automobile dependency (e.g. driving-induced stress, the isolation of nondrivers).None of these issues are addressed in enormous detail; for example, the book occasionally mentions pro-sprawl counterarguments, but does not fully address them.But then again, each of these topics could probably justify a separate book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

important topic
Urban sprawl in American cities is an important topic, but this book doesn't cover it fairly or accurately. Broad assumptions and causalities are asserted and "proved" with anecdotal evidence. Facts are also wrong (p. 28 about densities of cities), or cited without the actual data. The underlying theme appears to be that all American cities function (or disfunction) in the same way and can all be fixed by imposing regional planning and equity redistribution. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Urban sprawl is an occurrence that has gained much national attention in recent years. It is not only an issue of land use, but also a legal, political, and social concern. It effects our schools, the environment, and race relations. Comprehensive enough for high school students and also appropriate for undergraduate students, this book delves into the challenges of urban sprawl by looking to some of America's top thinkers on the matter, including Robert Yaro, the President of the Regional Plan Association. Other cutting-edge articles include a preface about the emergence of sprawl by nationally syndicated columnist Neal Peirce, views about race and class by former mayor of Albuquerque David Rusk, and views from Curtis Johnson, president of the Citistates Group, about transportation dynamics. After reading a detailed definition of urban sprawl, students will then explore the dynamics, negative impact, analysis, other cross-cutting issues, and the agenda to deal with sprawl. Complete with a glossary, resources, and contact information for smart growth alliances, this book is extremely user-friendly even for students Soule offers an unbiased viewpoint of this national event, while still keeping the information accessible to students as well as those who have little background in the matter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An in-depth overview of urban sprawl's history
David C. Soule edits URBAN SPRAWL: A COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE GUIDE, an in-depth overview of urban sprawl history, economics, dynamics, and issues. Chapters survey changing regulations, definitions and standards, different patterns of urban sprawl in metro areas, standards fo equity and more. College-level collections with urban studies or urban planning courses need to have this. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Cities, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The paper examines the causes, features and consequences of the vigorous dynamics of urban sprawl seen in recent years in eastern Germany. Firstly, regarding the theory of urban development, it demonstrates that this case of sprawl displays certain peculiarities-and so cannot be sufficiently understood by drawing on 'western' experience. Secondly, concerning the management of urban development, it is particularly striking that urban sprawl in eastern Germany has largely proved to be the product of specific legislative and political conditions. Changes in these conditions ought thus to significantly affect urban development. To help contain urban sprawl in the context under scrutiny, however, these changes need to be geared to the situation of urban stagnation and decline. ... Read more

Book Description
Once There Were Greenfields describes the environmental, economic, and social impacts of sprawl development. It also proposes guiding principles for a new kind of "smart growth." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

American individualism run amok
"Once There Were Greenfields" is the product of a small team of researchers working for The National Resouces Defense Council (NRDC) and the Surface Transportation Policy Project. The result is a well-researched, balanced and highly readable review of suburban sprawl and its effects on the community, economy and environment. It also suggests ways we might mitigate sprawl by opting for policies that encourage "smart growth", i.e. development that takes a holistic view of the community and its role within the larger society in which we all live.

With thorough documentation, charts and illustrations to support the author's work, one can easily imagine the book serving well as an introductory college textbook on the subject. It should also be welcomed by community activists and concerned citizens alike who may want to prepare themselves for intelligent discussion and engagement when faced with the problem of sprawl in their own local communities.

The authors discuss the numerous reasons why sprawl has become such a big problem in our country. Of course the closely related and interconnected topics of the American love affair with the automobile, the building of the interstate highway system and the dismantling of big city public transportation systems by General Motors are cited as factors that enabled and encouraged the post-WW II mass exodus from most major cities to their surrounding suburban areas. But the authors also point out that uncoordinated local governments generally make it difficult for America to develop comprehensive land use policies, allowing land developers and corporations to run amok and get what they wanted with respect to tax breaks, permits, and so on.

The end result is that businesses have found it only too easy to relocate to cheaper land outside the core cities (if not to foreign countries), setting in motion a cycle of urban decline that pushes even more people to the suburbs and the inexpensive houses available there.

The authors don't blame Americans for desiring the relatively clean air, open spaces, and safe schools and neighborhoods that suburbia purports to offer. But as the boundaries push ever outward, the benefits become ever more difficult to attain and a myriad of new problems emerge. For example, commuting costs -- in terms of both time and money -- can wipe out much of the savings on housing. The problem is compounded by the deleterious effects of stress to the psyche that are associated with driving ever longer distances to work. All of this extra driving also contributes enormously to the problems of both global warming and local air pollution. Significantly, local government budgets quickly become depleted trying to keep up with spiraling highway construction and maintenance costs.

The authors suggest remedies and also allude to success stories in places such as Portland, Oregon, the State of Maryland, and Europe to discuss some of the alternatives that may help contain sprawl. In each case, it seems that revitalizing and creating a truly livable inner city is integral to creating a winning strategy.

Whether the U.S. can truly reverse sprawl before most of its open spaces are consumed remain an open question, of course. One suspects that regional planners acting in the community's interest will have a tougher time reigining in the rugged, individualistic American than his or her European counterpart. But one has to wonder whether continuing to consume every two years over one million acres of open lands -- much of it valuable and irreplacable farmlands and wetlands -- should rightly be called progress, and what the consequences of this unwritten policy of perpetual destruction might hold for us in the long run.

In brief, this excellent book contains much for us to think about. It provides guidance and inspiration to those among us who dare to believe that a stronger community, a better environment, and a higher quality of life may indeed be possible without sprawl. Highly recommended.

Well-researched book on the pric e of sprawl
I strongly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the effects of sprawl on our society. It is filled with information from a number of significant research studies. The book focuses on statistics, not opinion, to make its arguments against sprawl

a brief against suburban sprawl
If you want a fairly definitive guide to all the disadvantages of suburban sprawl, read this book.I also recommend it as a source guide, because it cites a lot of sources on both sides of the issue.

It does have some imperfections: it is very focused on environmental issues, so I wouldn'tpretend that it is the definitive guide on other sprawl related problems(e.g. social justice issues), though it does address such issues to someextent.Also, I think it is a bit more biased towards "biggovernment" solutions to sprawl than I would be if I were writing abook on the subject.But by and large, I recommend it.

The definitive guide to sprawl and its solutions.
What do road rage, farmland loss, inner-city poverty, and air pollution have in common? They are all part of "sprawl," a thoroughly American phenomenon of poorly-planned scattershot development.

"OnceThere Were Greenfields" provides a comprehensive review of sprawl: itscauses, its consequences, and most importantly, its solutions. IfBenfield's book had been printed 50 years ago, perhaps much of thedestruction of America's farms and city centers would have beenavoided.

The book reviews a number of public policies that favorunlimited consumption of land and drive development out of America'scities. Benfield reminds us that while most of the policy decisions thatlead to sprawl are made at the state and local level, these decisions areoften based on economic incentives created by federal activity. The sadfact is that our current patterns of low-density development are the resultof fifty years of government policy decisions, direct government funding,and government-influenced private finance and credit decisions. In mostAmerican cities, the mix of these policies and market forces creates astrong economic push toward an ever-expanding suburbia at the expense ofour core urban and inner suburban areas.

The results of sprawl have beendisastrous for environmental quality and for the economic well-being ofcities. Sprawl is even costly to suburban residents that unknowinglysubsidize the process, such as the paving of more than one million acres offarmland per year, through increases in their property taxes and othermechanisms.

Despite the book's detailed review of policies ranging fromtaxation and transportation to agriculture and water quality, it remainsextremely accessible. Newcomers to the issue that Vice President Gore hastermed "Livability" will find "'Greenfields" athoughtfully balanced primer. Land use professionals will appreciate theprofessionalism of the research and wealth of useful citations.

This bookis a must-read for policy makers and citizen activists alike that wish toimprove their quality of life. If you've been looking for a single sourceof all the most important -- and most disturbing -- facts about sprawl,Benfield and his associates have produced it. ... Read more

Product Description
This manual is a step-by-step guide that concerned volunteers can use to create an Open Space Action Plan. The Plan provides the information needed to negotiate with landowners, permitting authorities, and developers to preserve rapidly disappearing open space and limit sprawl. Unlike typical land use master plans, an Open Space Action Plan identifies specific and critical land parcels to be preserved for open space, so as to better manage the random incremental growth that often results from real estate development projects undertaken as market conditions, land availability, developer interests and regulatory opportunities dictate. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from University of Pennsylvania Law Review, published by University of Pennsylvania, Law School on January 1, 2000. The length of the article is 7056 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Reflections on urban sprawl, smart growth, and the Fifth Amendment.
Author: Timothy J. Dowling
Publication: University of Pennsylvania Law Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2000
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania, Law School
Volume: 148Issue: 3Page: 873

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

One of the great debates of our time concerns the predominant form of land use in America today - the all too familiar pattern of commercial and residential development known as sprawl. But what do we really know about sprawl? Do we know what it is? Where did it come from? Is it really so bad? If so, what are the alternatives? Can anything be done to make it better? The Limitless City offers an accessible examination of those and related questions. Oliver Gillham, an architect and planner with more than twenty-five years of experience in the field, considers the history and development of sprawl and examines current debates about the issue. The book:

• offers a comprehensive definition of sprawl in America
• traces the roots of sprawl and considers the factors that led to its preeminence as an urban and suburban form
• reviews both its negative impacts (loss of open space, increased pollution, gridlock) as well as its positive aspects (economic development, personal freedom, privacy)
• considers responses to sprawl including "smart growth," urban growth boundaries, regional planning, and the New Urbanism
• looks at what can be done to improve and counterbalance sprawl

Customer Reviews (2)

somewhat balanced, unlike most books on the subject
The best and most unusual thing about this book is that it is more balanced than most: while most sprawl-related books are pure attacks or defenses (or are too superficial to adequately cover either side of the argument), Gillham gives a significant amount of space to the arguments, counter-arguments and counter-counter arguments on both sides (though on balance he is definitely more antisprawl than not).In addition, the book covers a wider range of issues than many sprawl related books; instead of being focused on quality of life issues (like most New Urbanist books are) or on environmental issues, Gillham goes into both. Also, Gillham discusses the political lineups on sprawl related issues: who's for changing the status quo, who defends sprawl and why.

The Limitless City
This book delivers a thorough, unbiased and thoughtful approach to the problem of sprawl.The issues are clearly defined and the myths debunked when necessary. After reading this book, one feels that the problems and potential solutions can be grasped. The writing is clear,and concise and draws the reader through the complexities of the issues. ... Read more

Book Description
One side claims that urban sprawl is spurring economic growth and creating jobs; the other claims that it is creating traffic jams, destroying cities, and using up too much space too fast. Which side is right? Find out by consulting the first reference work to jump head-first into the middle of this controversy, Urban Sprawl. A balanced overview, the handbook marshals the facts, sorts out the benefits and the drawbacks, and withholds judgement. This even-handed, up-to-date survey of contemporary urban development in America examines how and why a growing number of citizens are expressing concern over sprawl. It explains why urban development has been so haphazard, why farmland losses involve the best soils, how effective local governments and states have been in controlling development, what effect growth restrictions have on housing costs, if sprawl really threatens our food production, how to achieve smart growth, and more. The book includes a comprehensive list of organizations active in the debate, an up-to-the-minute bibliography of all the major works, and a wide range of electronic resources. ... Read more

Book Description
New research is reported here and a thorough discussion of theory and policy is given. The book explains the nature and dynamics of urban sprawl and divides into three parts: contemporary definitions, theories and trends in European urban sprawl; experiences from across Europe to consider urban sprawl from a number of perspectives; and the development of a formal qualitative model of sprawl. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Landscape and Urban Planning, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Assessment of the environmental impact of urban sprawl being understood here as the conversion of non-urban to urban land is still a subject for debate. Another shortcoming of the current discourse on urban sprawl is that it largely fails to reflect the interconnection of environmental and socio-economic aspects. In presenting a case study on the German city of Leipzig and applying the conceptual framework of driving forces, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR-concept), this paper strives to assess the impact of urban sprawl on water balance and explores the repercussions of this impact upon the causation of and policies on urban sprawl. The study establishes that urban sprawl and related surface sealing have considerable impact on water fluxes and the urban water balance that may become imminent in the longer run. However, the study also shows that societal reactions on urban sprawl, first of all the attempts of both authorities and public initiatives to contain sprawl, are hardly motivated or influenced by concerns about environmental problems in a particular place (affected by urban sprawl). These attempts are mainly carried out on a national and regional level and reflect a general orientation in environmental politics rather than the desire to respond to individual urban developments. The study thus shows that the environmental impact of sprawl elicits only indirect repercussions in society. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Forest Policy and Economics, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Urban sprawl has been identified as a serious threat to forests and other natural areas in the United States, and public concern about the impacts of sprawling development patterns has grown in recent years. The prominence of public concern about sprawl is germane to planners, managers, and policymakers involved in efforts to protect interface forests from urban encroachment because the level of concern will influence the acceptance of policies and programs aimed at protecting forests. A new indicator of public concern about urban sprawl is presented, based on computer content analysis of public discussion contained in the news media from 1995-2001. More than 36,000 news stories about sprawl were analyzed for expressions of concern. Overall concern about sprawl grew rapidly during the latter half of the 1990s. The environmental impacts of sprawl were the most salient concern overall, and concern about loss of open space and traffic problems has increased since 1995 as a share of all sprawl concerns. The method described in this paper provides a new approach for planners and policymakers to monitor change in public attitudes about a wide range of social issues over time. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on March 12, 2007. The length of the article is 1282 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Water under city tainted by wells; Urban sprawl leads to increasingly salty water, study finds.(City)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 12, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: a1

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Planning, published by American Planning Association on May 1, 1999. The length of the article is 642 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: VIEWPOINT.(planners already positioned as experts on urban sprawl)(Column)
Author: Stuart Meck
Publication: Planning (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 1999
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 65Issue: 5Page: 42

Article Type: Column

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 856 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sprawl. .(The Limitless City: A Primer on the Urban Sprawl Debate)(Book Review) (book review)
Author: Rolf Pendall
Publication: Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 69Issue: 1Page: 99(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Planning, published by American Planning Association on March 1, 1995. The length of the article is 3261 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Toronto, Ontario's two-tier system of government, so successful for thirty years, may now be outdated. The problem originated in the early 1970s, when the province created the Greater Toronto Area, four regions surrounding Metropolitan Toronto. By replicating the federated model that characterized the Metro and limiting the Metro's planning purview it created problems in the coordination of basic services, such as bus and rail lines.

Citation Details
Title: Is there life after Metro?(Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto no longer equipped to handle urban sprawl)(views of city's planners are presented in an accompanying article)
Author: David Lewis Stein
Publication: Planning (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1995
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: v61Issue: n3Page: p11(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from State Legislatures, published by National Conference of State Legislatures on April 1, 2002. The length of the article is 470 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Urban sprawl may be bad for your health. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
Publication: State Legislatures (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2002
Publisher: National Conference of State Legislatures
Volume: 28Issue: 4Page: 9(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more