Do Land-Use Controls Cause Sprawl?

Low-density urbanization, also known as urban sprawl, has accelerated in the United States in recent years, In this article I will test the cumulative influence of locally adopted (municipal) land-use controls on sprawl. Land-use controls that shift the cost of development onto builders and away from the general public are found to reduce sprawl; those that mandate low densities are found cumulatively to increase sprawl, whereas urban containment systems have limited cumulative effects. Further, regions whose local governments rely on ad valorem property taxes to fund services and infrastructure tend to sprawl more than those that rely on a broader tax base.

[1]  William Alonso,et al.  Location and Land Use: Toward a General Theory of Land Rent , 1966 .

[2]  A. Nelson,et al.  The new 'burbs: the exurbs and their implications for planning policy , 1994 .

[3]  R. Bish,et al.  The public economy of metropolitan areas , 1971 .

[4]  G. Galster,et al.  Black Suburbanization , 1991 .

[5]  R. Ewing.  Is Los Angeles-Style Sprawl Desirable? , 1997 .

[6]  S. B. Warner.  Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston, 1870-1900 , 1962 .

[7]  Charles M. Tiebout.  A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures , 1956, Journal of Political Economy.

[8]  B. Chinitz.  Growth Management Good for the Town, Bad for the Nation? , 1990 .

[9]  Robert M. Fogelson.  The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850-1930 , 1967 .

[10]  P. Gordon,et al.  Are Compact Cities a Desirable Planning Goal , 1997 .

[11]  William H. Frey,et al.  Changes in the segregation of whites from blacks during the 1980s: small steps toward a more integrated society. , 1994 .

[12]  H. Molotch,et al.  Power to Build , 1995 .

[13]  W. Fischel.  Introduction: Four Maxims for Research on Land-Use Controls , 1990 .

[14]  Howard Schuman,et al.  “Chocolate city, vanilla suburbs:” Will the trend toward racially separate communities continue? , 1978 .

[15]  J. Stahura.  Suburban Development, Black Suburbanization and the Civil Rights Movement since World War II , 1986 .

[16]  Mark Schneider,et al.  The Competitive City: The Political Economy of Suburbia. , 1990 .

[17]  R. Kirwan.  Location and Land Use: Toward a General Theory of Land Rent , 1966 .

[18]  M. Jun,et al.  THE COMMUTING PARADOX: EVIDENCE FROM THE TOP TWENTY , 1991 .

[19]  Dazhong Wen.  Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions , 1997 .

[20]  E. Feitelson.  The Spatial Effects of Land Use Regulations A Missing Link in Growth Control Evaluations , 1993 .

[21]  Carol E. Hoffecker,et al.  Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States , 1987 .

[22]  J. Landis.  IMAGINING LAND USE FUTURES: APPLYING THE CALIFORNIA URBAN FUTURES MODEL , 1995 .

[23]  W. Moss.  Large lot zoning, property taxes, and metropolitan area , 1977 .