The Nightmare of the World – Urban Sprawl

urban sprawl. The blessing and the curse. Sprawl is the concept of people moving out of the city to lower-density housing, in communities that are more dispersed and rely heavily on automobile transportation. Other features are “The American Dream,” single-family home subdivisions, single-use zoning, and long commutes.

If the scene is still unfamiliar to you, you’re probably not from the area known as “the suburbs.” I grew up in the suburbs, and while I had briefly thought about the implications on a few occasions, I had never fully immersed myself in the impact suburbs have on America and the impact they can have on the world.

Without diving into many of the technical aspects of expansion development, I want to address the main concerns with this lifestyle, especially as the trend seems to be going viral around the world.

Before I delve into the negative effects, I should mention that these effects are not only affecting the United States, but will soon multiply throughout the world. Our success and ability to create this life of expansion has created a way of life that other countries are trying to emulate. As these countries experience higher incomes and more economic resources, the trend is the same as in the United States: build outside of the city, in ‘subdivisions’ complete with wooden fences and awkward neighbors. This trend will have devastating effects sooner than we think.

The first issue that is most obvious to most when thinking about expansion is the environmental impact such a living arrangement has. Motor vehicles are the number 1 source of air pollution in the United States. Reliance on the car for every task during the day in expansion areas greatly increases the fuel consumption of the areas. Likewise, most jobs are still located in the main cities, creating a long commute to work each day, for which the car is used even more. From personal experience, I would drive a mile to the store for a soda, and then a mile back home, and not even think twice about doing it. Add little tasks like these to the daily commute and multiply by millions, and the fuel consumption in that area is truly mind-boggling.

Public health is another concern with the expansion of urban sprawl. Dependence on automobiles decreases the number of walks a person takes daily in a suburban environment. The American Heart Association has shown that this leads to higher levels of obesity and hypertension. The reason isn’t just a matter of motivation, it’s that people in the sprawling sprawl NEED to drive to get anywhere, often distances that are impractical to walk.

These areas also have a higher infrastructure cost, as providing services such as water, electricity, and sewage are more expensive per household. Additionally, more parking lots and roads are required in more dispersed areas, adding another layer to the higher cost of infrastructure.

—OBJECTIVE—

I liked growing up in the suburbs. As ironic as it is to write, especially knowing the effects of sprawl, I still enjoy the suburban lifestyle.

That said, I know that that kind of lifestyle, particularly if it’s embraced by billions of people around the world, is not a sustainable model. If all countries move into our form of expansion as their wealth increases, then the world as we know it will cease to exist. As dramatic as it may sound, it is true.

But we cannot tell other countries not to live like us, as long as we continue to live like we do. It’s a difficult balance, and we as Americans may have to set the precedence.

What do you think? Can we create a hybrid environment? What can we do to change this trend? Do you even care?