Lecture 14/15

the movement of people from rural to urban areas

it has slowed

it has become more rapid

• climate, topography, and configuration of waterways determine if a large city can form

• Less need for farm labor due to transition to industrialization • Wars, conflict, and ecological degradation drive migration to cities • Now many of these cities face overcrowding, pollution, and poverty • Their economic growth does not match their population growth

• global commerce, jet travel, television, cell phones and internet • businesses do not need to be in urban areas • highway networks make it easier to commute

the spread of low-density urban or suburban development outward from an urban center

human population growth

• amount of sprawl = the number of people added to an area times the amount of land the average person occupies • interstate highways • technology (telecommunications, and the Internet) eliminate businesses from dependence on a centralized infrastructure and workers can live wherever they wish

• People like their space/privacy • Social perception

Transportation: people forced to drive - want to own cars = more dependence on fossil fuels - lack of mass transit options / more traffic accidents

Pollution from sprawl’s effects - CO2, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing air - motor oil and road salt from roads and parking lots

Health: promotes physical inactivity (obesity, high blood pressure)

Land Use: remove forests, farmland with loss of ecosystem services, recreation habitat

Economics: drains tax dollars from communities (for roads, water and sewer systems, electricity, police and fire services, schools in new developments)

involves designing cities with goal of maximizing their efficiency, beauty, functionality - development options - transportation needs - public parks

deals with issues on broader geographic scales involving multiple municipal governments

practice of classifying areas for different types of development and land use - can restrict areas to single use or allow combination of residential/commercial/agricultural uses

• Establish urban growth boundaries (UGBs) in Regional Planning • Establish greenbelts through changes in zoning designations

• concentrates development • limits sprawl: keeps growth in existing urbanized areas • revitalize downtowns • protect farms, orchards, ranches, forests • ensure urban dwellers some access to open space • may reduce infrastructure costs

• increases housing prices within their boundaries • restricts development outside UGB • increases the density of new housing inside the UGB • increasing pressure to expand boundaries

is a land use (zoning) designation - intended to contain urban development and protect agricultural and natural lands

considered a major success (worldwide) - under threat by current provincial government

• filter through wetlands • replenish groundwater • safeguard vital resources that clean air and water • reduce flood risks • provide a home for wildlife • protect soils in high-quality farmland • ensure communities have access to greenspace