Dear “Earth Talk”: What is
“sprawl,” and how do we keep it in check for the sake of the
environment? — G. Korchowsky, Yardley, Pa.
Sprawl is the tendency of cities to expand into
outlying agricultural and rural lands, resulting in the development of
suburbs where there was once open space. The negative effects of sprawl
include the loss of parks and farmland, clogged highways, and urban decay
as people abandon metropolitan centers. It is usually driven by
human-population increases and — ironically — people’s
desire to escape the “concrete jungle” to quieter and more
natural surroundings.
According to Tim Frank of the Sierra Club, sprawl in
fact destroys more than 2 million acres of parks, farms, and other open
space each year in the United States alone. Furthermore, by spreading
development out over large amounts of land, sprawl puts longer distances
between homes, stores, and job centers, making people more and more
dependent on driving. This reliance on driving in turn leads to more roads
and highways that churn up natural landscapes and bring increased smog and
pollution.
Staving off sprawl is a complex and often contentious
endeavor, with real-estate developers pitted squarely against
preservationists. The good news is that an association of organizations
called the Smart Growth Network is working to promote development that
boosts the economy while protecting the environment and enhancing community
vitality.
SGN was formed in 1996 by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in partnership with several other government agencies and
nonprofit organizations, including the Sierra Club. Promotion of public
transportation, keeping farms economically viable, preservation open space,
and restoration of urban centers are key elements of SGN’s fight
against the negative impacts of sprawl. “What we are doing is
carrying out activities to educate people about the consequences of sprawl
and help them realize that steps can be taken to create smart
growth,” says Frank.
Even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
is lending a hand. The agency’s NAUTILUS project provides city
planners with satellite data to help with decision-making regarding zoning
and development. In test regions throughout the northeastern United States,
city planners are working with NASA on developing growth projections based
on satellite maps and historical growth trends.
Whether these efforts are any match for the frontier
ethic that still dominates American culture is yet to be seen. And with
many less developed nations building up their industrial infrastructures,
on a global scale the sprawl problem is likely to get worse before it gets
better.
For more information: Sierra
Club, www.sierraclub.org; Smart Growth Network, www.smartgrowth.org; NASA
NAUTILUS program, science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/11oct_sprawl.htm.
Send questions to “Earth Talk” in care of E/The Environmental Magazine,
P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005.
