Urban sprawl

Under sprawl is understood either in the construction of buildings outside of built-up districts, or the unregulated and unstructured growth of towns in the undeveloped area. Urban sprawl is one aspect of suburbanization. Usually the term is used to describe negative effects of this process.

Researchers from Switzerland have defined in the framework of the National Research Programme NRP 54 sprawl as follows: urban sprawl is a phenomenon that is visually perceptible in the landscape. A landscape is all the more urban sprawl, the more area is built, the more dispersed the settlement areas are and the lower their utilization for living or working purposes. To complement the measurable criteria size, dispersion and utilization of the built-up area the intuitive assessment of urban sprawl. Based on this definition, let trends in urban sprawl quantify.

After 2008 published model of " Anthrome " the two American geographer Erle C. Ellis and Navin Ramankutty about half of all people living on earth in the sprawling environs (Dense Settlements, Villages ) urban agglomerations.

Development

Urban sprawl is in a growth of urban areas in the landscape. If it occurs on a large scale in the range of agglomerations to exacerbate the problems arising from it. Through large-scale urban sprawl occurring, cities and landscapes of Central Europe are undergoing a fundamental change process. In particular, the surrounding large cities changed his previous course or culturally grown character. This trend towards increased training of affluent suburbs can be observed in Germany since decades.

Planing urban authorities such as the promotion of industrial parks and large shopping centers promote urban sprawl, but on the grounds that such measures create jobs and bring revenue to municipalities.

In the rural environment, the villages that sprawl through the conversion of arable land into construction land is favored despite the presence of free land in the core area. The design of the settlements in the open design has an added impact on the consumption of landscape.

Causes

Was promoted Decisive and urban sprawl through the municipal development planning ( on the edge of settlements ) and the solidification of splinter settlements outside. It is often associated with the spread of the car as a technical requirement in connection. The State support of the disintegration of the workplace and place of residence by the traveling allowance, as well as an undifferentiated housing promotion are cited as the cause and promoting for urban sprawl.

Other measures that serve einzubremsen the symptoms of sprawl, such as park-and -ride, however, these may make them more attractive and accelerate. Is also disputed the common transport policy concept of supply existing demand as road again in many cases leads to new demand. According to a study by the VCÖ may favor public transport come to a massive growth in car traffic without a stop road construction in the Vienna area.

The suburban habitat

The rise of the car makes the geographical separation of work and sleeping space more attractive and causes an enlargement of economic zones, as companies settle outside the city limits. The clear boundary between the city center, suburban and undeveloped land is blurred by it. The development of new, sparsely populated land often displaces agricultural land and natural areas. The suburbanization weakens traditional city centers and quarters by purchasing power drain.

The dream of the big house in the countryside with no loss of urban workplace drives in front of all families in the affluent suburbs. Due to the increasingly long way in this habitat as well as people spend more and more time in the car, in some areas more than 20 hours per week. This road must be built that would not have been necessary in the dense population in work area.

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Traffic problems

Urban sprawl is also due to their traffic -producing effect in the criticism. Public transportation require high population density and density of use in order to operate in a profitable manner. Residents of suburbs are predominantly dependent on selbige due to returning supply and declining demand for public transportation due to vermehrtem ownership of motor vehicles.

Social problems

One of the most controversial episodes of urban sprawl is its negative impact on the social fabric and quality of life. Since areas with low population density and satellite towns often are not able to provide a wide range of services, and because many public institutions such as libraries, swimming pools and parks are often not available, residents are forced to cover long distances for most activities. It comes to the exclusion of residents who are not able to. This mainly affects minors, disabled people, elderly or vulnerable people.

The situation is often exacerbated by the fact that the road, which also acts as a kind of public platform coexistence in the urban habitat, urban sprawl in the area degenerates to pure transport artery and rather acts as an additional barrier. The high dependence on cars endangers the health of the population, since motorists to travel less distances on foot or by bicycle, and thus more likely to have sedentary lifestyles and the overall concentration of pollutants in the air we breathe by every driver rises much higher than by using public means of mass transportation. Outflow of purchasing power of urban main roads in shopping malls can also lead to an obliteration of the cityscape and loss of diversity. Urban areas, which were formerly made ​​of a mixture of social classes experience, through the migration of richer residents in the affluent suburbs an increasing segregation (or simply ghettoization ), and this may increase social tensions. The opposite, ie the formation of suburban ghettos, particularly as observed in France, may also be a consequence.

A special form of this development towards ghettoization is the increasing number of so-called gated communities (eg, country clubs ), particularly in the U.S. and " gated communities " in the UK and in developing countries, approaches but also in other European countries. This " private quarters " to be built in many cases in the attractive landscape areas, have a high consumption of landscape by their large land and promote segregation by social class. In the cities of Britain, especially in London, there is this controversial gated communities in neglected districts that are close to the attractive financial district, but at the same time have a high crime rate.