Product Description
In Urban Sprawl and Public Health, 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 this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Compelling book that challenges convention
The authors have brought together several disciplines in a compelling and convincing narrative that links the importance of urban planning for healthy living.The book contains striking data, stories and photos that show how closely the rise in obesity, diabetes and asthma (to name a few) have been linked to increasing urban sprawl.One of the main results of urban sprawl is increased time spent driving which not only increases stress but the time spent in gridlock traffic reduces family time and community involvement.The result of spending so much time commuting is much more severe than many people realize because it results in exhausted, anxious and stressed people who have little time to their children and neighbors, or in the language of the book "social capital." I highly recommend this book for anyone who seeks to see healthier cities that are designed for people rather than cars.

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

Product 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

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

Product Description
This book is conceived as evidence supporting the qualities of dense, urban living, and as a hopeful antidote against sprawl. Necessity and investigation are prerequisites for the design of housing: Total Housing refers to the need to understand that social, environmental, and economic factors affect form, and that living space is a base for our increasingly complex and varied societies. This new survey into multi - family housing focuses on the responses proposed by architects who are dealing with the dynamic and diverse demands of contemporary society. Featuring works by Lacaton - Vassal, BIG, + JDS, Sadar Vuga Arhitekti, Ryue Nishizawa, FOA, SHoP, and many emerging new architects, this volume is not a simple catalog, but rather a studied collection of inventive projects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A seminal work that is enhanced with the inclusion of floor plans and colored photos of exteriors
As metropolitan areas become increasingly population dense, the need for multi-family housing also increases -- often dramatically. Knowledgeably co-edited by the team of Tomoko Sakamoto, Irene Hwang, and Albert Ferre, "Total Housing: Alternatives To Urban Sprawl" is a 396-page compendium providing detailed, insightful, illustrative, descriptive commentaries showcasing multi-family architectural structures by some of the finest established architectural firms, as well as an impressive number of new architects coming up with project solutions to the problems of urban sprawl. A seminal work that is enhanced with the inclusion of floor plans and colored photos of exteriors, "Total Housing: Alternatives To Urban Sprawl" is an impressive and strongly recommended contribution to professional and academic library architectural studies collections.
... Read more

Product 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 affects 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.

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

Product Description

This book provides a comprehensive discussion on urban growth and sprawl, and how they can be analyzed using remote sensing imageries. It compiles views of numerous researchers that help in understanding the urban growth and sprawl; their patterns, process, causes, consequences, and countermeasures; how remote sensing data and geographic information system techniques can be used in mapping, monitoring, measuring, analyzing, and simulating the urban growth and sprawl; and what are the merits and demerits of available methods and models.

This book will be of value for the scientists and researchers engaged in urban geographic research, especially using remote sensing imageries. This book will serve as a rigours literature review for them. Post graduate students of urban geography or urban/regional planning may refer this book as additional studies. This book may help the academicians for preparing lecture notes and delivering lectures. Industry professionals may also be benefited from the discussed methods and models along with numerous citations.

Product Description
Urban sprawl is one of the key planning issues today. This book compares Western Europe and the USA, focusing on anti-sprawl policies. The USA is known for its settlement patterns that emphasize low-density suburban development and extreme automobile dependence, whereas European countries emphasize higher densities, pro-transit policies and more compact urban growth. Yet, on closer inspection, the differences are not as wide as first appears. A key feature of the book is the attention given to France; its experience is little known in the English-speaking world. The book concludes that both continents can offer each other useful insights and perhaps policy guidance. ... Read more

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Argues that the United States refuses to address global warming because of the reliance of the American economy on urban sprawl. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Just read the first 2 chapters...
I am an architecture student and read this book during my sr. year of my undergraduate and I wanted to shoot myself every time I had to even look at this book. It's a painful read and often times I found myself falling asleep. Also, I found that if you read the foreword, which is surprisingly well done, and the first 2-3 chapters, you can pretty much guess what the rest of the book is going to be about. There really is no point in reading the entire book because it pretty much repeats itself all the way throughout. The glossary on the other hand is very good and is very in-depth. So if you need a good dictionary on urban sprawl, this book is just for you. I will be keeping the book as a desk reference for its glossary, but won't be attempting any readings that aren't assigned to me... At least not without a blanket and a pillow... I recommend this book for its glossary, but wouldn't even give an assigned reading out of this book to my worst enemy... ... Read more

Product Description
Urban sprawl is one of the most important types of land-use changes currently affecting Europe. It increasingly creates major impacts on the environment (via surface sealing, emissions by transport and ecosystem fragmentation); on the social structure of an area (by segregation, lifestyle changes and neglecting urban centres); and on the economy (via distributed production, land prices, and issues of scale).

Urban Sprawl in Europe: landscapes, land-use change & policy explains the nature and dynamics of urban sprawl. The book is written in three parts. Part I considers contemporary definitions, theories and trends in European urban sprawl. In part II authors draw upon experiences from across Europe to consider urban sprawl from a number of perspectives:

* Infrastructure-related sprawl, such as can be seen around Athens;

* Sprawl in the post-socialist city, as typified by Warsaw, Leipzig and Ljubljana;

* Decline and sprawl, where a comparative analysis of Liverpool and Leipzig shows that sprawl is not confined to expanding cities;

* Sprawl based on the development of second homes as found in Sweden, Austria and elsewhere.

In part III a formal qualitative model of sprawl is developed. Policies for the control of urban sprawl and the roles of different stakeholders are considered. Finally, a concluding chapter raises questions about the nature and dynamics of these new urban landscapes and their sustainability. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from E, published by Earth Action Network, Inc. on May 1, 2000. The length of the article is 4772 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: The Fast-Moving Fight To Stop Urban Sprawl.
Author: Linda Baker
Publication: E (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2000
Publisher: Earth Action Network, Inc.
Volume: 11Issue: 3Page: 26

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Paperback. Land Readjustment (LR) is a land development technique used in many countries around the world including Germany, Sweden, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. In essence it is a method whereby an irregular pattern of agricultural land holdings is re-arranged into regular building plots and equipped with basic urban infrastructure such as roads and drains. A percentage of each landowner's holding is contributed to provide land for roads and parks, and for some plots to sell to pay the costs of the project. Its use has been particularly widespread in Japan where it is responsible for some 30% of the existing urban area, and is commonly referred to as 'The Mother of City Planning' (Toshi Keikaku no Haha). LR has for 20 years also been the focus of an international effort to introduce the technique to the developing countries of South East Asia. Although there is now a large literature on Japanese LR as a result of that project, however, virtually all of that ... Read more

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With special reference to Hyderabad, India. ... Read more

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A groundbreaking study of urban sprawl in Calgary after the SecondWorld War. The interactions of land developers and the local governmentinfluenced how the pattern grew: developers met market demands andoptimized profits by building houses as efficiently as possible, whilethe City had to consider wider planning constraints and infrastructurecosts. Foran examines the complexity of their interactions from ahistorical perspective, why each party acted as it did, and where eachcan be criticized. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

gets the basics right, doesn't always focus on most important details
This book explains how sprawl happened in a mid-size Canadian city: in essence, a combination of municipal restrictiveness and municipal permissiveness.

Calgary was restrictive in telling developers how to build (especially in already-developed areas).Paralyzed by fear of traffic and of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) resistance to infill, the city's zoning and planning officials limited density, favored cul-de-sacs over grids, and designed commercial streets for high-speed traffic instead of pedestrians and commerce - all policies that made development oriented towards cars rather than people.To give a couple of examples: single family subdivisions were designed to have 22 people per acre, or about 5-6 units- too few to make quality bus service economical.And in the 1960s, the city's comprehensive plan stated that streets were for moving traffic, and "emphatically not to accommodate business."

On the other hand, the city was quite happy to annex suburban land and let developers build on such land.Where there was no NIMBY threat to worry about, giving in to developers was the course of least resistance.

Foran addresses these basic issues adequately.I do wish, however, that he had focused more on design issues (e.g. why wasn't development more pedestrian-friendly in new areas without NIMBYs) and less on issues only tangentially related to sprawl such as the details of utility pricing. ... Read more

Product 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