Costs of Sprawl

<p>Across the nation the debate over metropolitan sprawl and its impact has become pivotal to urban planning. A decade and a half ago Smart Growth America and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sought to raise the level of the debate by sponsoring groundbreaking research to quantitatively measure sprawl and its quality-of-life impacts. The resulting measures are widely used in urban research and public health.</p><p>Costs of Sprawl provides a panoramic guide to urban form in America measures sprawl for metropolitan areas urbanized areas and counties and studies the relationship between sprawl and quality-of-life outcomes. From this preliminary investigation it looks like the costs of sprawl are varied and substantial and the alternative of compact development is far superior.</p><p>An essential read for researchers planners urban designers policy makers and smart growth advocates in the U.S. and abroad this book provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of one of the most critical issues in planning today.</p>