urban sprawl

Introduction & Top Questions
Causes
Costs of urban sprawl
- Environmental costs
- Economic costs
- Community costs
Alternatives to urban sprawl
- Smart growth communities
- Transit villages
- Ecovillages and conservation developments

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Jeanne Gang on the future of architecture

Aerial view of a sprawling suburban neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada, showing rows of houses with similar rooftops, curved streets, and landscaped yards.

See the geographic expansion of the Las Vegas metropolitan area from 1984 to 2009 demonstrated through space images

Learn how specific bridges can help animals cross obstacles, some created naturally and others built by humans

Understand the energy efficiency and environmental impact of taller, more-compact cities compared with shorter, more-sprawling cities

Related Questions

How can compact and energy-efficient buildings reduce some effects of urban sprawl?
How can large retail chains and strip malls reduce a community's distinctiveness?
How can mixed land use support smart growth in cities and towns?
How did Detroit and Pittsburgh grow geographically despite population declines between 1970 and 1990?
How did Palermo's spatial footprint change in relation to its population growth from the mid-1950s to the late 1990s?
How did automobiles allow suburban residents to remain connected to cities?
How did economic prosperity after World War II encourage suburban development in the United States?
How did federal loan programs after World War II help more Americans buy suburban homes?
How did the geographic extent of Chicago change between 1970 and 1990 compared with its population?
How did the growth of built-up land in parts of Europe compare with population growth from 1980 to 2000?
How did the share of the world's population living in urban areas change from 1950 to the late 2000s?
How did urban population growth in the United States compare with urban population growth in India from 1950 to 2007?
How do New Urbanist plans bring homes, jobs, and shopping closer together?
How do low-density housing and automobile dependence contribute to urban sprawl?
How do mixed land uses in older urban neighbourhoods reduce the need for automobile trips?
How do transit villages reduce reliance on private automobiles?
How do weak planning laws contribute to urban sprawl?
How does New Urbanism differ from smart growth in its approach to community development?
How does automobile commuting in suburban areas contribute to air pollution?
How does converting agricultural land for development affect forests, wetlands, and grasslands?
How does runoff from paved surfaces reduce water quality in downstream ecosystems?
How does single-use zoning encourage automobile dependence?
How does urban sprawl destroy and fragment wildlife habitat?
What smart growth principles encourage pedestrian-friendly communities?
Which 1926 U.S. Supreme Court case upheld zoning regulations and helped popularize Euclidean zoning?
Which ecosystem services can be lost when natural land is converted into urban development?
Why are transit villages often built around existing mass-transit lines?
Why can older city neighbourhoods decline when wealthier residents move to new housing tracts?
Why can small and isolated habitat patches fail to support native wildlife species?
Why can small local businesses struggle after large stores move into newly developed areas?
Why can urban sprawl occur even when a metropolitan area's population is declining?
Why did larger homes and private yards attract people to suburban areas?
Why did some people move to suburbs to escape city congestion, crime, and noise?
Why did the Interstate Highway System encourage the spread of suburbs after 1956?
Why do dispersed schools, stores, workplaces, and homes increase infrastructure costs in suburbs?
Why do higher incomes contribute to demand for larger suburban homes?
Why do large single-family homes often require more energy for heating and cooling than city apartments?
Why do low-density exurban neighbourhoods use more energy per person than denser city neighbourhoods?
Why do roads, parking lots, and rooftops increase the risk of local flooding?
Why do some critics argue that smart growth slows urban sprawl rather than stopping it?
Why do some opponents believe concentrated high-density development can reduce biodiversity in developed areas?
Why do some opponents believe smart growth can worsen road congestion and burden mass transit?
Why do suburban residents often have higher transportation costs than city residents?
Why does Euclidean zoning make walkable communities more difficult to develop?
Why might cities and towns raise taxes after new suburban development is built?
What is urban sprawl?
What is the U.S. Navy’s “gender neutral” submarine?
What is the historical significance of Brooklyn Heights?
What was Levittown, and why is it significant?
How have the demographics of suburbs changed in the 21st century?
How are suburbs portrayed in pop culture?
What are some of the characteristics of villages?
How did villages develop during the Neolithic?
Which is the world’s largest city?
What are the 10 largest metropolitan areas in the world?

Geography & Travel Cities & Towns Cities & Towns T-Z

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External Websites

The Guardian - The curse of urban sprawl: how cities grow, and why this has to change
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Urban Sprawl, Smart Growth, and Deliberative Democracy
Yale University - The Yale Ledger - Urban Sprawl: A Growing Problem

urban sprawl

Also known as: sprawl, suburban sprawl

Written by

John P. Rafferty

John P. Rafferty writes about Earth processes and the environment. He serves currently as the editor of Earth and life sciences, covering climatology, geology, zoology, and other topics that relate to...

John P. Rafferty

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

urban sprawl, the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the private automobile for transportation. Urban sprawl is caused in part by the need to accommodate a rising urban population; however, in many metropolitan areas it results from a desire for increased living space and other residential amenities. Urban sprawl has been correlated with increased energy use, pollution, and traffic...

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