The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario , which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit , Mississauga . It drains an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi). The total length of the river and its tributary streams is over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi).
122-530: Despite urbanization and associated problems with water quality on the lower section of this river, it provides spawning areas for Chinook salmon and rainbow trout . There is a fish ladder on the river at Streetsville . Much of the river can still be travelled by canoe or kayak . The headwaters of the Credit River is home to a native self-sustaining brook trout population and an introduced brown trout population. Credit Valley Conservation ,
244-442: A destructive pattern of growth in an endless quest to move away from the sprawl that only results in creating more of it. Urban sprawl is associated with a number of negative environmental outcomes. One of the major environmental problems associated with sprawl is land consumption , habitat loss and subsequent reduction in biodiversity . A review by Brian Czech and colleagues finds that urbanization endangers more species and
366-560: A diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5 ), can cause DNA methylation of CpG sites in immune cells, which increases children's risk of developing asthma. Studies have shown a positive correlation between Foxp3 methylation and children's exposure to NO 2 , CO, and PM 2.5 . Furthermore, any amount of exposure to high levels of air pollution have shown long term effects on the Foxp3 region. Urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment )
488-536: A farmer was described as "hot and exhausting". "Everyone says the farmer works the hardest but gets the least amount of money". In an effort to counter this impression, the Agriculture Department of Thailand is seeking to promote the impression that farming is "honorable and secure". However, in Thailand, urbanization has also resulted in massive increases in problems such as obesity. Shifting from
610-513: A fixed equilibrium. However, a significant increase in the percentage of the global urban population can be traced in the 1st millennium BCE. With the onset of the British Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, this relationship was finally broken and an unprecedented growth in urban population took place over the course of the 19th century, both through continued migration from
732-521: A greater risk for obesity, diabetes and related chronic disease. Overall, body mass index and cholesterol levels increase sharply with national income and the degree of urbanization. [40] Food deserts in the United States are most commonly found in low-income and predominately African American neighbourhoods. One study on food deserts in Denver , Colorado found that, in addition to minorities,
854-535: A grocery store are associated with higher rates of obesity and other health disparities. Food deserts in developed countries often correspond to areas with a high density of fast food chains and convenience stores that offer little to no fresh food. Urbanization has been shown to be associated with the consumption of less fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and a higher consumption of processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Poor access to healthy food and high intakes of fat, sugar and salt are associated with
976-451: A growing increase for addressing other areas of life cycle consumption has occurred from initial stage reduction to heat recovery and recycling of materials. For example, concerns for mass consumption and fast fashion have moved to the forefront of the urban consumers' priorities. Aside from environmental concerns (e.g. climate change effects), other urban concerns for waste management are public health and land access. Urbanization can have
1098-664: A growing trend in America's metropolitan areas. The Brookings Institution has published multiple articles on the topic. In 2005, author Michael Stoll defined job sprawl simply as jobs located more than 5-mile (8.0 km) radius from the CBD, and measured the concept based on year 2000 U.S. Census data. Other ways of measuring the concept with more detailed rings around the CBD include a 2001 article by Edward Glaeser and Elizabeth Kneebone's 2009 article, which show that sprawling urban peripheries are gaining employment while areas closer to
1220-459: A higher content of meat, sugars, refined grains and fats. Urban residents typically have reduced time available for at-home food preparation combined with increased disposable income, facilitating access to convenience foods and ready-to-eat meals. One such effect is the formation of food deserts . Nearly 23.5 million people in the United States lack access to supermarkets within one mile of their home. Several studies suggest that long distances to
1342-573: A large effect on biodiversity by causing a division of habitats and thereby alienation of species, a process known as habitat fragmentation . Habitat fragmentation does not destroy the habitat, as seen in habitat loss , but rather breaks it apart with things like roads and railways This change may affect a species ability to sustain life by separating it from the environment in which it is able to easily access food, and find areas that they may hide from predation With proper planning and management, fragmentation can be avoided by adding corridors that aid in
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#17327725044911464-473: A more acidic environment. Rapid growth of communities creates new challenges in the developed world and one such challenge is an increase in food waste also known as urban food waste. Food waste is the disposal of food products that can no longer be used due to unused products, expiration, or spoilage. The increase of food waste can raise environmental concerns such as increase production of methane gases and attraction of disease vectors . Landfills are
1586-584: A negative impact on population health particularly affecting people's susceptibility to asthma. In low and middle income countries many factors contribute to the high numbers of people with asthma. Similar to areas in the United States with increasing urbanization, people living in growing cities in low income countries experience high exposure to air pollution, which increases the prevalence and severity of asthma among these populations. Links have been found between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and allergic diseases. Children living in poor, urban areas in
1708-627: A pejorative way. According to the National Resources Inventory (NRI), about 44 million acres (69,000 sq mi; 180,000 km ) of land in the United States was developed between 1982 and 2017. Presently, the NRI classifies approximately 100,000 more square kilometres (40,000 square miles) (an area approximately the size of Kentucky ) as developed than the Census Bureau classifies as urban. The difference in
1830-408: A planning approach and those advocating the efficiency of the market". Those who criticize sprawl tend to argue that sprawl creates more problems than it solves and should be more heavily regulated, while proponents argue that markets are producing the economically most efficient settlements possible in most situations, even if problems may exist. However, some market-oriented commentators believe that
1952-646: A result of individual, collective and state action. Living in a city can be culturally and economically beneficial since it can provide greater opportunities for access to the labour market, better education, housing, and safety conditions, and reduce the time and expense of commuting and transportation. Conditions like density, proximity, diversity, and marketplace competition are elements of an urban environment that deemed beneficial. However, there are also harmful social phenomena that arise: alienation, stress, increased cost of living, and mass marginalization that are connected to an urban way of living. Suburbanization , which
2074-446: A result, the places where people live, work, shop, and recreate are far from one another, usually to the extent that walking, transit use and bicycling are impractical, so all these activities generally require a car. The degree to which different land uses are mixed together is often used as an indicator of sprawl in studies of the subject. According to this criterion, China's urbanization can be classified as "high-density sprawl",
2196-408: A rural environment to an urbanized community also caused a transition to a diet that was mainly carbohydrate-based to a diet higher in fat and sugar, consequently causing a rise in obesity. City life, especially in modern urban slums of the developing world, is certainly hardly immune to pestilence or climatic disturbances such as floods, yet continues to strongly attract migrants. Examples of this were
2318-429: A seemingly self-contradictory term coined by New Urbanist Peter Calthorpe . He explains that despite the high-rise buildings, China's superblocks (huge residential blocks) are largely single-use and surrounded by giant arterial roads, which detach different functions of a city and create an environment unfriendly to pedestrians. Job sprawl is another land use symptom of urban sprawl and car-dependent communities. It
2440-491: A specific condition at a set time (e.g. the proportion of total population or area in cities or towns), or as an increase in that condition over time. Therefore, urbanization can be quantified either in terms of the level of urban development relative to the overall population, or as the rate at which the urban proportion of the population is increasing. Urbanization creates enormous social, economic and environmental challenges, which provide an opportunity for sustainability with
2562-543: A vector to spread to humans. An example of this could be dengue fever. Urbanization has also been associated with an increased risk of asthma as well. Throughout the world, as communities transition from rural to more urban societies, the number of people affected by asthma increases. The odds of reduced rates of hospitalization and death from asthmas has decreased for children and young adults in urbanized municipalities in Brazil. This finding indicates that urbanization may have
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#17327725044912684-478: Is a common effect of urbanization. Precipitation from rooftops, roads, parking lots and sidewalks flows to storm drains , instead of percolating into groundwater . The contaminated stormwater in the drains is typically untreated and flows to nearby streams, rivers or coastal bays. Eutrophication in water bodies is another effect large populations in cities have on the environment. When rain occurs in these large cities, it filters CO 2 and other pollutants in
2806-417: Is a natural product of population increases, higher wages, and therefore better access to housing. Improvement in transportation also means that individuals are able to live further from large cities and industrial hubs, thus increasing demand for better housing further from the noise of cities. This leads to the creation of sprawling residential land development surrounding densely packed urban areas. Despite
2928-479: Is argued that human beings, while social animals, need significant amounts of social space or they become agitated and aggressive. However, the relationship between higher densities and increased social pathology has been largely discredited. According to Nancy Chin, a large number of effects of sprawl have been discussed in the academic literature in some detail; however, the most contentious issues can be reduced "to an older set of arguments, between those advocating
3050-530: Is characterized by distant bloodlines, unfamiliar relations, and competitive behaviour. This unprecedented movement of people is forecast to continue and intensify during the next few decades, mushrooming cities to sizes unthinkable only a century ago. As a result, the world urban population growth curve has up till recently followed a quadratic-hyperbolic pattern. From the development of the earliest cities in Indus valley civilization , Mesopotamia and Egypt until
3172-576: Is commonly linked to increased dependency on cars. In 2003, a British newspaper calculated that urban sprawl would cause an economic loss of £3,905 per year, per person through cars alone, based on data from the RAC estimating that the average cost of operating a car in the UK at that time was £5,000 a year, while train travel (assuming a citizen commutes every day of the year, with a ticket cost of 3 pounds) would be only £1,095. Additionally, increased density increases
3294-411: Is compulsory to promote a fair society. Furthermore, urbanization improves environmental eminence through superior facilities and standards in urban areas as compared to rural areas. Lastly, urbanization curbs pollution emissions by increasing innovations. In his 2009 book Whole Earth Discipline , Stewart Brand argues that the effects of urbanization are primarily positive for the environment. First,
3416-431: Is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses, dense multi–family apartments, office buildings and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning . Sometimes
3538-571: Is defined as low-density, geographically spread-out patterns of employment, where the majority of jobs in a given metropolitan area are located outside of the main city's central business district (CBD), and increasingly in the suburban periphery. It is often the result of urban disinvestment , the geographic freedom of employment location allowed by predominantly car-dependent commuting patterns of many American suburbs, and many companies' desire to locate in low-density areas that are often more affordable and offer potential for expansion. Spatial mismatch
3660-414: Is defined by negative characteristics. What constitutes sprawl may be considered a matter of degree and will always be somewhat subjective under many definitions of the term. Ewing has also argued that suburban development does not, per se , constitute sprawl depending on the form it takes, although Gordon & Richardson have argued that the term is sometimes used synonymously with suburbanization in
3782-511: Is due. Thus urban sprawl is subsidized by the tax code. In China, land has been converted from rural to urban use in advance of demand, leading to vacant rural land intended for future development, and eventual urban sprawl. Housing subdivisions are large tracts of land consisting entirely of newly built residences. New Urbanist architectural firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company state that housing subdivisions "are sometimes called villages, towns, and neighbourhoods by their developers, which
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3904-542: Is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites by 2050, much of which will occur in Africa and Asia . Notably, the United Nations has also recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2017 to 2030 will be by cities, with about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 10 years. In the long term, urbanization is expected to significantly impact the quality of life in negative ways. Urbanization
4026-476: Is happening in the cities of the largest developing countries, may be regarded as an attempt to balance these harmful aspects of urban life while still allowing access to the large extent of shared resources. In cities, money, services, wealth and opportunities are centralized. Many rural inhabitants come to the city to seek their fortune and alter their social position. Businesses, which provide jobs and exchange capital, are more concentrated in urban areas. Whether
4148-576: Is home to 1,330 plant species, 64 fish species (including many bait fish , pike, and brook trout), 41 mammal species, 5 turtle species, 8 snake species, 17 amphibian species, and 244 bird species. The Canadian indie rock band The Constantines entitled a track "Credit River" on their 2008 album Kensington Heights . A youth Hockey team in the OMHA is named the Credit River Capitals List of major roadways crossing over
4270-684: Is in contrast to New York, San Francisco or Chicago which have compact, high-density cores surrounded by areas of very low-density suburban periphery, such as eastern Suffolk County in the New York metro area and Marin County in the San Francisco Bay Area . Some cases of sprawl challenge the definition of the term and what conditions are necessary for urban growth to be considered sprawl. Metropolitan regions such as Greater Mexico City , Delhi National Capital Region Beijing , and
4392-422: Is misleading since those terms denote places that are not exclusively residential". They are also referred to as developments. Subdivisions often incorporate curved roads and cul-de-sacs . These subdivisions may offer only a few places to enter and exit the development, causing traffic to use high volume collector streets. All trips, no matter how short, must enter the collector road in a suburban system. After
4514-619: Is more geographically ubiquitous in the mainland United States than any other human activity. Urban sprawl is disruptive to native flora & fauna and introduces invasive plants into their environments. Although the effects can be mitigated through careful maintenance of native vegetation, the process of ecological succession and public education, sprawl represents one of the primary threats to biodiversity. Regions with high birth rates and immigration are therefore faced with environmental problems due to unplanned urban growth and emerging megacities such as Kolkata. Other problems include: At
4636-472: Is not merely a modern phenomenon, but a rapid and historic transformation of human social roots on a global scale, whereby predominantly rural culture is being rapidly replaced by predominantly urban culture . The first major change in settlement patterns was the accumulation of hunter-gatherers into villages many thousands of years ago. Village culture is characterized by common bloodlines, intimate relationships, and communal behaviour, whereas urban culture
4758-442: Is often regarded unsustainable". Bhatta et al. wrote in 2010 that despite a dispute over the precise definition of sprawl, there is a "general consensus that urban sprawl is characterized by [an] unplanned and uneven pattern of growth, driven by a multitude of processes and leading to inefficient resource utilization". Reid Ewing has shown that sprawl has typically been characterized as urban developments exhibiting at least one of
4880-416: Is related to job sprawl and economic environmental justice . Spatial mismatch is defined as the situation where poor urban, predominantly minority citizens are left without easy access to entry-level jobs, as a result of increasing job sprawl and limited transportation options to facilitate a reverse commute to the suburbs. Job sprawl has been documented and measured in various ways. It has been shown to be
5002-406: Is relevant to a range of disciplines, including urban planning , geography , sociology , architecture , economics , education , statistics , and public health . The phenomenon has been closely linked to globalization , modernization , industrialization , marketization , administrative/institutional power , and the sociological process of rationalization . Urbanization can be seen as
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5124-649: Is the shopping mall . Unlike the strip mall, this is usually composed of a single building surrounded by a parking lot that contains multiple shops, usually "anchored" by one or more department stores . The function and size is also distinct from the strip mall. The focus is almost exclusively on recreational shopping rather than daily goods. Shopping malls also tend to serve a wider (regional) public and require higher-order infrastructure such as highway access and can have floorspaces in excess of 1 million sq ft (93,000 m ). Shopping malls are often detrimental to downtown shopping centres of nearby cities since
5246-404: Is whether this is due to agglomeration effects or whether cities simply attract those who are more productive. Urban geographers have shown that there exists a large productivity gain due to locating in dense agglomerations. It is thus possible that agents locate in cities in order to benefit from these agglomeration effects. The dominant conurbation (s) of a country can get more benefits from
5368-430: The 2011 Thailand floods and 2007 Jakarta flood . Urban areas are also far more prone to violence , drugs , and other urban social problems. In the United States, industrialization of agriculture has negatively affected the economy of small and middle-sized farms and strongly reduced the size of the rural labour market. – Madhura Swaminathan, economist at Kolkata's Indian Statistical Institute Particularly in
5490-826: The Cato Institute , a libertarian think tank , has argued that sprawl, thanks to the automobile, gave rise to affordable suburban neighborhoods for middle class and lower class individuals, including non-whites. He notes that efforts to combat sprawl often result in subsidizing development in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods while condemning and demolishing poorer minority neighborhoods. The American Institute of Architects , American Planning Association , and Smart Growth America recommend against sprawl and instead endorses smart , mixed-use development , including buildings in close proximity to one another that cut down on automobile use, save energy, and promote walkable, healthy, well-designed neighborhoods. The Sierra Club ,
5612-716: The Greater Tokyo Area are often regarded as sprawling despite being relatively dense and mixed use. Many theories speculate as to the reason for the creation of urban sprawl. The theory of "flight from blight" explains that aspects of living in urban areas, such as high taxes, crime rates, poor infrastructure and school qualities lead to many people moving out of urban areas and into surrounding suburban areas. According to The Limits to Growth , reasons why wealthier people move to suburbs include noise, pollution, crime, drug addiction, poverty, labor strikes, and breakdown of social services. Others suggest that Urban Sprawl
5734-816: The Mississaugas First Nation who met annually with white traders there. To the First Nations, the river was "held in reverential estimation as the favourite resort of their ancestors" and the band, which ranged from Long Point on Lake Erie to the Rouge River on Lake Ontario, became known as the Credit River Indians. Their descendants are today the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation . The origins of
5856-660: The Overseas Development Institute have proposed policies that encourage labour-intensive to make use of the migration of less skilled workers. One problem these migrant workers are involved with is the growth of slums . In many cases, the rural-urban unskilled migrant workers are attracted by economic opportunities in cities. Unfortunately, they cannot find a job and or pay for houses in urban areas and have to live in slums. Urban problems, along with developments in their facilities, are also fuelling suburb development trends in less developed nations, though
5978-559: The Second World War , residential lawns became commonplace in suburbs, notably, but not exclusively in North America. The development of country clubs and golf courses in the early 20th century further promoted lawn culture in the United States. Lawns now take up a significant amount of land in suburban developments, contributing to sprawl. In areas of sprawl, commercial use is generally segregated from other uses. In
6100-470: The proportion of the total national population living in areas classified as urban, whereas urban growth strictly refers to the absolute number of people living in those areas. It is predicted that by 2050 about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized. This is predicted to generate artificial scarcities of land, lack of drinking water, playgrounds and so on for most urban dwellers. The predicted urban population growth
6222-415: The urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization , the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city . Medieval suburbs suffered from
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#17327725044916344-405: The working class out of the market, including officials and employees of the local districts. For example, Eric Hobsbawm 's book The age of revolution: 1789–1848 (published 1962 and 2005) chapter 11, stated "Urban development in our period was a gigantic process of class segregation, which pushed the new labouring poor into great morasses of misery outside the centres of government, business, and
6466-578: The "potential to use resources much less or more efficiently, to create more sustainable land use and to protect the biodiversity of natural ecosystems." However, current urbanization trends have shown that massive urbanization has led to unsustainable ways of living. Developing urban resilience and urban sustainability in the face of increased urbanization is at the centre of international policy in Sustainable Development Goal 11 "Sustainable cities and communities." Urbanization
6588-532: The 10–35 mile ring. This compares to the year 1998 – 23.3%, 34.2%, and 42.5% in those respective rings. The study shows CBD employment share shrinking, and job growth focused in the suburban and exurban outer metropolitan rings. Sprawl often refers to low- density development . There is no precise definition of "low density", but it might commonly mean Single-family homes on large lots. Such buildings usually have fewer stories and are spaced farther apart, separated by lawns , landscaping , roads or parking lots. In
6710-438: The 18th century, an equilibrium existed between the vast majority of the population who were engaged in subsistence agriculture in a rural context, and small centres of populations in the towns where economic activity consisted primarily of trade at markets and manufactures on a small scale. Due to the primitive and relatively stagnant state of agriculture throughout this period, the ratio of rural to urban population remained at
6832-463: The CBD are losing jobs. These two authors used three geographic rings limited to a 35-mile (56 km) radius around the CBD: 3 miles (4.8 km) or less, 3 to 10 miles (16 km), and 10 to 35 miles (56 km). Kneebone's study showed the following nationwide breakdown for the largest metropolitan areas in 2006: 21.3% of jobs located in the inner ring, 33.6% of jobs in the 3–10 mile ring, and 45.1% in
6954-673: The Credit in Peel Region : Most of the bridges were built in the mid-20th century or later. Only the Queen Elizabeth Way and Old Derry Road West bridges are older. CP Rail and CN Rail have steel deck truss bridges crossing over the Credit River. Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English ) is the population shift from rural to urban areas , the corresponding decrease in
7076-605: The Earth's atmosphere as emissions increase with the rise in urban development. In fact, the ocean absorbs a quarter of the CO 2 produced by humans. This helps to lessen the harmful effects of greenhouse gases. But it also makes the ocean more acidic. A drop in pH the prevents the proper formation of calcium carbonate, which sea creatures need to build or keep shells or skeletons. This is especially true for many species of molluscs and coral. However, some species have been able to thrive in
7198-587: The English name come from the time when French fur traders supplied goods to the native people in advance (on credit) against furs which would be delivered the following spring. It was known as the Rivière au Crédit. The trading post was set up at the mouth of the river, in Port Credit , in the early 18th century. As of the 2006 census, 750,000 people live in the watershed. Of those, 87 percent live in
7320-546: The NRI classification is that it includes rural development, which by definition cannot be considered to be "urban" sprawl. Currently, according to the 2000 Census , approximately 2.6 percent of the U.S. land area is urban. Approximately 0.8 percent of the nation's land is in the 37 urbanized areas with more than 1,000,000 population. In 2002, these 37 urbanized areas supported around 40% of the total American population. Nonetheless, some urban areas like Detroit have expanded geographically even while losing population. But it
7442-475: The San Francisco Bay Area's Greenbelt Alliance , 1000 Friends of Oregon and counterpart organizations nationwide, and other environmental organizations oppose sprawl and support investment in existing communities. NumbersUSA , a national organization advocating immigration reduction , also opposes urban sprawl, and its founder, Roy Beck , specializes in the study of this issue. One of
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#17327725044917564-513: The U.S. and Canada, these often take the form of strip malls , which refer to collections of buildings sharing a common parking lot, usually built on a high-capacity roadway with commercial functions (i.e., a "strip"). Similar developments in the United Kingdom are called Retail Parks. Strip malls consisting mostly of big box stores or category killers are sometimes called "power centers" (U.S.). These developments tend to be low-density;
7686-450: The United States 2–4 houses per acre (5–10 per hectare) might be considered low-density while in the UK 8–12 per acre (or 20–30 per hectare) would still be considered low-density. Because more automobiles are used in the USA, much more land is designated for parking. The impact of low density development in many communities is that developed or "urbanized" land is increasing at a faster rate than
7808-582: The United States now have an increased risk of morbidity due to asthma in comparison to other low-income children in the United States. In addition, children with croup living in urban areas have higher hazard ratios for asthma than similar children living in rural areas. Researchers suggest that this difference in hazard ratios is due to the higher levels of air pollution and exposure to environmental allergens found in urban areas. Exposure to elevated levels of ambient air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter with
7930-509: The affected neighbourhoods also had a high proportion of children and new births. In children, urbanization is associated with a lower risk of under-nutrition but a higher risk of being overweight . Urbanization has also been linked to the spread of communicable diseases, which can spread more rapidly in the favourable environment with more people living in a smaller area. Such diseases can be respiratory infections and gastrointestinal infections. Other infections could be infections, which need
8052-415: The aforementioned chemicals. In these ideal conditions, they choke surface water, blocking sunlight and nutrients from other life forms. Overgrowth of algal blooms makes water worse overall and disrupts the natural balance of aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, as algal blooms die, CO 2 is produced. This makes the ocean more acidic, a process called acidification. The ocean's surface can absorb CO 2 from
8174-408: The air onto the ground. These chemicals are washed directly into rivers, streams, and oceans, making water worse and damaging ecosystems in them. Eutrophication is a process which causes low levels of oxygen in water and algal blooms that may harm aquatic life. Harmful algal blooms make dangerous toxins. They live best in nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich places which include the oceans contaminated by
8296-457: The average number of residential units per acre in a given area. Others associate it with decentralization (spread of population without a well-defined centre), discontinuity ( leapfrogging development, as defined below ), segregation of uses, and so forth. The term urban sprawl is highly politicized and almost always has negative connotations. It is criticized for causing environmental degradation , intensifying segregation , and undermining
8418-450: The birth rate of new urban dwellers falls immediately to replacement rate and keeps falling, reducing environmental stresses caused by population growth. Secondly, emigration from rural areas reduces destructive subsistence farming techniques, such as improperly implemented slash and burn agriculture. Alex Steffen also speaks of the environmental benefits of increasing the urbanization level in "Carbon Zero: Imagining Cities that can save
8540-526: The buildings are single-story and there is ample space for parking and access for delivery vehicles. This character is reflected in the spacious landscaping of the parking lots and walkways and clear signage of the retail establishments. Some strip malls are undergoing a transformation into Lifestyle centers ; entailing investments in common areas and facilities (plazas, cafes) and shifting tenancy from daily goods to recreational shopping. Another prominent form of retail development in areas characterized by sprawl
8662-573: The capital, are normal cities instead. A conurbation's dominance can be measured by output, wealth, and especially population, each expressed as a percentage of the entire country's. Greater Seoul is one conurbation that dominates South Korea. It is home to 50% of the entire national population. Though Greater Busan-Ulsan (15%, 8 million) and Greater Osaka (14%, 18 million) dominate their respective countries, their populations are moving to their even more dominant rivals, Seoul and Tokyo respectively. As cities develop, costs will skyrocket. This often takes
8784-478: The chance that people will take the bicycle for their commute which would be better for their health. Bicycles are a common mode of transportation for those living in urban centers due to many factors. One major factor many people consider relates to how, when one rides a bike to, say, their workplace, they are exercising as they do so. This multi-tasking is better for one's health than automatic transport. A heavy reliance on automobiles increases traffic throughout
8906-491: The city as well as automobile crashes, pedestrian injuries, and air pollution. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of five and twenty-four and is the leading accident-related cause for all age groups. Residents of more sprawling areas are generally at greater risk of dying in a car crash due to increased exposure to driving. Evidence indicates that pedestrians in sprawling areas are at higher risk than those in denser areas, although
9028-798: The combination of ill-health and poverty entrenches disadvantage over time." Many of the urban poor have difficulty accessing health services due to their inability to pay for them; so they resort to less qualified and unregulated providers. While urbanization is associated with improvements in public hygiene , sanitation and access to health care , it also entails changes in occupational, dietary , and exercise patterns. It can have mixed effects on health patterns, alleviating some problems, and accentuating others. Traditionally, rural populations have tended to eat plant-based diets rich in grains, fruits and vegetables, and with low fat content. However, rural people migrating to urban areas often shift towards diets that rely more on processed foods characterized by
9150-741: The connection of areas and allow for easier movement around urbanized regions. Depending on the various factors, such as level of urbanization, both increases or decreases in "species richness" can be seen. This means that urbanization may be detrimental to one species but also help facilitate the growth of others. In instances of housing and building development, many times vegetation is completely removed immediately in order to make it easier and less expensive for construction to occur, thereby obliterating any native species in that area. Habitat fragmentation can filter species with limited dispersal capacity. For example, aquatic insects are found to have lower species richness in urban landscapes. The more urbanized
9272-454: The conversion of agricultural land to urban use is not a problem due to the increasing efficiency of agricultural production; they argue that aggregate agricultural production is still more than sufficient to meet global food needs despite the expansion of urban land use. Sprawl leads to increased driving, which in turn leads to vehicle emissions that contribute to air pollution and its attendant negative impacts on human health . In addition,
9394-464: The countryside and due to the tremendous demographic expansion that occurred at that time. In England and Wales , the proportion of the population living in cities with more than 20,000 people jumped from 17% in 1801 to 54% in 1891. Moreover, and adopting a broader definition of urbanization, while the urbanized population in England and Wales represented 72% of the total in 1891, for other countries
9516-611: The current custom of requiring a developer to provide subdivision infrastructure as a condition of development. Usually, the developer is required to set aside a certain percentage of the developed land for public use, including roads, parks and schools. In the past, when a local government built all the streets in a given location, the town could expand without interruption and with a coherent circulation system, because it had condemnation power . Private developers generally do not have such power (although they can sometimes find local governments willing to help), and often choose to develop on
9638-703: The current patterns of sprawl are in fact the result of distortions of the free market. Chin cautions that there is a lack of "reliable empirical evidence to support the arguments made either for or against sprawl". She mentions that the lack of a common definition, the need for more quantitative measures "a broader view both in time and space, and greater comparison with alternative urban forms" would be necessary to draw firmer conclusions and conduct more fruitful debates. Arguments opposing urban sprawl include concrete effects such as health and environmental issues as well as abstract consequences including neighborhood vitality. American public policy analyst Randal O'Toole of
9760-492: The desirability of the area adjacent to such structures. Providing services such as water , sewers , road maintenance, and electricity is also more expensive per household in less dense areas, given that sprawl increases lengths of power lines, roads, and pipes, necessitating higher maintenance costs. Residents of low-density areas spend a higher proportion of their income on transportation than residents of high density areas. The unplanned nature of outward urban development
9882-550: The developing world, conflict over land rights due to the effects of globalization has led to less politically powerful groups, such as farmers, losing or forfeiting their land, resulting in obligatory migration into cities. In China, where land acquisition measures are forceful, there has been far more extensive and rapid urbanization (54%) than in India (36%), where peasants form militant groups (e.g. Naxalites ) to oppose such efforts. Obligatory and unplanned migration often results in
10004-587: The developing world, urbanization does not translate into a significant increase in life expectancy . Rapid urbanization has led to increased mortality from non-communicable diseases associated with lifestyle, including cancer and heart disease . Differences in mortality from contagious diseases vary depending on the particular disease and location. Urban health levels are on average better in comparison to rural areas. However, residents in poor urban areas such as slums and informal settlements suffer "disproportionately from disease, injury, premature death, and
10126-511: The development of public transport systems , which facilitated commutes of longer distances to the city centre for the working class . Urbanization rapidly spread across the Western world and, since the 1950s, it has begun to take hold in the developing world as well. At the turn of the 20th century, just 15% of the world population lived in cities. According to the UN , the year 2007 witnessed
10248-532: The dismantling of infrastructure that occurred in the United States. Despite its sprawl, Metropolitan Los Angeles is the densest major urban area (over 1,000,000 population) in the US, being denser than the New York urban area and the San Francisco urban area. Most of metropolitan Los Angeles is built at more uniform low to moderate density, leading to a much higher overall density for the entire region. This
10370-442: The extent of modern sprawl has consumed a large amount of the most productive agricultural land, as well as forest, desert and other wilderness areas. In the United States the seller may avoid tax on profit by using a tax break exempting like-kind exchanges from capital gains tax ; proceeds from the sale are used to purchase agricultural land elsewhere and the transaction is treated as a "swap" or trade of like assets and no tax
10492-681: The figure was 37% in France , 41% in Prussia and 28% in the United States . As labourers were freed up from working the land due to higher agricultural productivity they converged on the new industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham which were experiencing a boom in commerce, trade, and industry. Growing trade around the world also allowed cereals to be imported from North America and refrigerated meat from Australasia and South America . Spatially, cities also expanded due to
10614-496: The following characteristics: low-density or single-use development, strip development, scattered development, and/or leapfrog development (areas of development interspersed with vacant land). He argued that a better way to identify sprawl was to use indicators rather than characteristics because this was a more flexible and less arbitrary method. He proposed using " accessibility " and "functional open space" as indicators. Ewing's approach has been criticized for assuming that sprawl
10736-489: The growing population of urban regions, according to UN experts, will strain basic sanitation systems and health care, and potentially cause a humanitarian and environmental disaster. Urban heat islands have become a growing concern over the years. An urban heat island is formed when industrial areas absorb and retain heat. Much of the solar energy reaching rural areas is used to evaporate water from plants and soil. In cities, there are less vegetation and exposed soil. Most of
10858-611: The inconvenience of trips across them frequently combine to make marketplace competition harsher in cities than in rural areas. In many developing countries where economies are growing, the growth is often random and based on a small number of industries. Youths in these nations lack access to financial services and business advisory services, cannot get credit to start a business, and have no entrepreneurial skills. Therefore, they cannot seize opportunities in these industries. Making sure adolescents have access to excellent schools and infrastructure to work in such industries and improve schools
10980-426: The lack of a clear agreed upon description of what defines sprawl most definitions often associate the following characteristics with sprawl. This refers to a situation where commercial, residential , institutional and industrial areas are separated from one another. Consequently, large tracts of land are devoted to a single use and are segregated from one another by open space, infrastructure, or other barriers. As
11102-593: The larger area consumed by sprawling suburbs compared to urban neighborhoods, more farmland and wildlife habitats are displaced per resident. As forest cover is cleared and covered with impervious surfaces ( concrete and asphalt ) in the suburbs, rainfall is less effectively absorbed into the groundwater aquifers . This threatens both the quality and quantity of water supplies. Sprawl increases water pollution as rain water picks up gasoline , motor oil , heavy metals , and other pollutants in runoff from parking lots and roads. Gordon & Richardson have argued that
11224-569: The local watershed management conservation authority , operates several Conservation Areas including Belfountain, Island Lake, and Terra Cotta. Forks of the Credit Provincial Park is located on the upper part of the river between Brampton and Orangeville, and is near the Bruce Trail . Communities in the river's watershed include the following: The river became known as Missinnihe ( Eastern Ojibwa : "trusting creek") to
11346-407: The loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare . Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. Most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of
11468-447: The lower third of the watershed. Population growth is approximately 3 percent per year. In 1999, 21 percent of the watershed was developed. By 2020, 40 percent of the watershed will be developed (based on approved development and the official plans of the municipalities). The Credit River is home to a wide range of wildlife. Some species are permanent or seasonal residents while others are sighted occasionally. This watershed
11590-425: The nearness of the workplace to retail and restaurant space that provides cafes and convenience stores with daytime customers is an essential component to the successful balance of urban life. Furthermore, they state that the closeness of the workplace to homes also gives people the option of walking or riding a bicycle to work or school and that without this kind of interaction between the different components of life
11712-565: The newly specialized residential areas of the bourgeoisie. The almost universal European division into a 'good' west end and a 'poor' east end of large cities developed in this period." This is probably caused by the south-west wind which carries coal smoke and other pollutants down, making the western edges of towns better than the eastern ones. Similar problems now affect less developed countries, as rapid development of cities makes inequality worse. The drive to grow quickly and be efficient can lead to less fair urban development. Think tanks such as
11834-593: The opportunity to join, develop, and seek out social communities. Urbanization also creates opportunities for women that are not available in rural areas. This creates a gender-related transformation where women are engaged in paid employment and have access to education. This may cause fertility to decline. However, women are sometimes still at a disadvantage due to their unequal position in the labour market, their inability to secure assets independently from male relatives and exposure to violence. People in cities are more productive than in rural areas. An important question
11956-552: The planet",. However, existing infrastructure and city planning practices are not sustainable. In July 2013 a report issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs warned that with 2.4 billion more people by 2050, the amount of food produced will have to increase by 70%, straining food resources, especially in countries already facing food insecurity due to changing environmental conditions. The mix of changing environmental conditions and
12078-435: The population is growing. Overall density is often lowered by " leapfrog development". This term refers to the relationship, or lack of it, between subdivisions. Such developments are typically separated by large green belts , i.e. tracts of undeveloped land, resulting in an overall density far lower even than the low density indicated by localized per-acre measurements. This is a 20th and 21st century phenomenon generated by
12200-470: The proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It can also mean population growth in urban areas instead of rural ones. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas. Although the two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, urbanization should be distinguished from urban growth . Urbanization refers to
12322-546: The rapid growth of slums. This is also similar to areas of violent conflict, where people are driven off their land due to violence. Cities offer a larger variety of services, including specialist services not found in rural areas. These services require workers, resulting in more numerous and varied job opportunities. Elderly people may be forced to move to cities where there are doctors and hospitals that can cater to their health needs. Varied and high-quality educational opportunities are another factor in urban migration, as well as
12444-635: The reduced physical activity implied by increased automobile use has negative health consequences. Sprawl significantly predicts chronic medical conditions and health-related quality of life, but not mental health disorders. The American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Health Promotion, have both stated that there is a significant connection between sprawl, obesity , and hypertension . Loud vehicles can cause stress, prevent sleep, and minimize social interactions in public for people living in cities (especially homeless people). In
12566-657: The relationship is less clear than for drivers and passengers in vehicles. Research covered in the Journal of Economic Issues and State and Local Government Review shows a link between sprawl and emergency medical services response and fire department response delays. Living in larger, more spread out spaces generally makes public services more expensive. Since car usage becomes endemic and public transport often becomes significantly more expensive, city planners are forced to build highway and parking infrastructure , which in turn decreases taxable land and revenue, and decreases
12688-515: The relative overall quality of life is very subjective, and may certainly surpass that of the city. Farm living has always been susceptible to unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought , flood or pestilence, survival may become extremely problematic. – Iam Thongdee, Professor of Humanities, Mahidol University in Bangkok In a New York Times article concerning the acute migration away from farming in Thailand, life as
12810-509: The revenue, although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates. In Europe , the term peri-urbanisation is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena, but the term urban sprawl is currently being used by the European Environment Agency . There is widespread disagreement about what constitutes sprawl and how to quantify it. For example, some commentators measure sprawl by residential density , using
12932-532: The same things cities offer, attracting the rural population and urban and suburban populations from other cities. Dominant conurbations are quite often disproportionately large cities , but do not have to be. For instance Greater Manila is a conurbation instead of a city. Its total population of 20 million (over 20% national population) make it a primate city, but Quezon City (2.7 million), the largest municipality in Greater Manila, and Manila (1.6 million),
13054-415: The same time, the urban cores of these and nearly all other major cities in the United States , Western Europe , and Japan that did not annex new territory experienced the related phenomena of falling household size and, particularly in the U.S., " white flight ", sustaining population losses. This trend has slowed somewhat in recent years, as more people have regained an interest in urban living. Due to
13176-628: The shopping malls act as a surrogate for the city centre . Some downtowns have responded to this challenge by building shopping centres of their own. Fast food chains are often built early in areas with low property values where the population is expected to boom and where large traffic is predicted, and set a precedent for future development. Eric Schlosser , in his book Fast Food Nation , argues that fast food chains accelerate suburban sprawl and help set its tone with their expansive parking lots, flashy signs, and plastic architecture (65). Duany Plater Zyberk & Company believe that this reinforces
13298-518: The source is trade or tourism, it is also through the ports or banking systems, commonly located in cities, that foreign money flows into a country. Many people move into cities for economic opportunities, but this does not fully explain the very high recent urbanization rates in places like China and India. Rural flight is a contributing factor to urbanization. In rural areas, often on small family farms or collective farms in villages, it has historically been difficult to access manufactured goods, though
13420-652: The sun's energy is instead absorbed by buildings and asphalt; leading to higher surface temperatures. Vehicles, factories, and heating and cooling units in factories and homes release even more heat. As a result, cities are often 1 to 3 °C (1.8 to 5.4 °F) warmer than other areas near them. Urban heat islands also make the soil drier and absorb less carbon dioxide from emissions. A Qatar University study found that land-surface temperatures in Doha increased annually by 0.65 °C from 2002 to 2013 and 2023. Urban runoff , polluted water created by rainfall on impervious surfaces,
13542-573: The supply of housing in desirable areas, and thus, it also decreases housing prices in those areas (by the logic of supply and demand ). Urban sprawl may be partly responsible for the decline in social capital in the United States. Compact neighborhoods can foster casual social interactions among neighbors, while sprawl creates barriers. Sprawl tends to replace public spaces with private spaces such as fenced-in backyards. Critics of sprawl maintain that sprawl erodes quality of life . Duany and Plater-Zyberk believe that in traditional neighborhoods
13664-464: The surrounding of habitat is, the fewer species can reach the habitat. Other times, such as with birds, urbanization may allow for an increase in richness when organisms are able to adapt to the new environment. This can be seen in species that may find food while scavenging developed areas or vegetation that has been added after urbanization has occurred i.e. planted trees in city areas – Jack Finegan, Urban Programme Specialist at UN-Habitat In
13786-470: The third leading cause of the release of methane, causing a concern on its impact to our ozone and on the health of individuals. Accumulation of food waste causes increased fermentation, which increases the risk of rodent and bug migration. An increase in migration of disease vectors creates greater potential of disease spreading to humans. Waste management systems vary on all scales from global to local and can also be influenced by lifestyle. Waste management
13908-411: The tracts that happen to be for sale at the time they want to build, rather than pay extra or wait for a more appropriate location. Some research argues that religious ideas about how humans should live (and die) promote low-density development and may contribute to urban sprawl. Land for sprawl is often taken from fertile agricultural lands , which are often located immediately surrounding cities;
14030-539: The trend for core cities in said nations tends to continue to become ever denser. Development of cities is often viewed negatively, but there are positives in cutting down on transport costs, creating new job opportunities, providing education and housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits individuals and families to make use of their closeness to workplaces and diversity. While cities have more varied markets and goods than rural areas, facility congestion, domination of one group, high overhead and rental costs, and
14152-539: The turning point when more than 50% of the world population were living in cities, for the first time in human history . Yale University in June 2016 published urbanization data from the time period 3700 BC to 2000 AD, the data was used to make a video showing the development of cities on the world during the time period. The origins and spread of urban centres around the world were also mapped by archaeologists . Urbanization occurs either organically or planned as
14274-603: The urban pattern quickly falls apart. James Howard Kunstler has argued that poor aesthetics in suburban environments make them "places not worth caring about", and that they lack a sense of history and identity. Urban sprawl has class and racial implications in many parts of the world; the relative homogeneity of many sprawl developments may reinforce class and racial divides through residential segregation . Numerous studies link increased population density with increased aggression. Some people believe that increased population density encourages crime and anti-social behavior. It
14396-419: The vitality of existing urban areas, and is attacked on aesthetic grounds. The pejorative meaning of the term means that few openly support urban sprawl as such. The term has become a rallying cry for managing urban growth. The term urban sprawl was often used in the letters between Lewis Mumford and Frederic J. Osborn, firstly by Osborn in his 1941 letter to Mumford and later by Mumford, generally condemning
14518-512: The waste of agricultural land and landscape due to suburban expansions. The term was used in an article in The Times in 1955 as a negative comment on the state of London 's outskirts. Definitions of sprawl vary; researchers in the field acknowledge that the term lacks precision. Batty et al. defined sprawl as "uncoordinated growth: the expansion of community without concern for its consequences, in short, unplanned, incremental urban growth which
14640-603: The years following World War II, when vehicle ownership was becoming widespread, public health officials recommended the health benefits of suburbs due to soot and industrial fumes in the city center. However, air in modern suburbs is not necessarily cleaner than air in urban neighborhoods. In fact, the most polluted air is on crowded highways, where people in suburbs tend to spend more time. On average, suburban residents generate more per capita pollution and carbon emissions than their urban counterparts because of their increased driving, as well as larger homes. Sprawl also reduces
14762-570: Was not a primary concern until after the Industrial Revolution. As urban areas continued to grow along with the human population, proper management of solid waste became an apparent concern. To address these concerns, local governments sought solutions with the lowest economic impacts which meant implementing technical solutions at the very last stage of the process. Current waste management reflects these economically motivated solutions, such as incineration or unregulated landfills. Yet,
14884-496: Was not just urbanized areas in the U.S. that lost population and sprawled substantially. According to data in "Cities and Automobile Dependence" by Kenworthy and Laube (1999), urbanized area population losses occurred while there was an expansion of sprawl between 1970 and 1990 in Amsterdam , Netherlands; Brussels , Belgium; Copenhagen , Denmark; Frankfurt , Hamburg and Munich , Germany; and Zürich , Switzerland, albeit without
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