More People Equals More Sprawl

A new study using census data to examine open sprawl concludes that half of all urban sprawl is related to population growth. Results of the study are contained in "Weighing Sprawl Factors in U.S. Cities," a report by environmental planner Leon Kolankiewicz and public policy analyst Roy Beck, backed by 38 experts and scholars from universities nationwide. The study approaches sprawl from an environmental focus by measuring actual acres of rural land lost as urbanized areas spread outward. Urbanized areas that had no population growth during the study period still sprawled, the authors found, but their overall sprawl was only one-third as high as cities in which population did grow. According to the authors: "This is an important message to hear in such cities, lest their governments inadvertently spur increased sprawl by adopting policies that entice the population once again to grow.

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