Urban Sprawl Research Paper

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Urban sprawl is basically another word for urbanization. It refers to the migration of a population from populated towns and cities to low-density development over more and more rural land. The end result is the spreading of a city and its suburbs over more and more rural land. In other words, urban sprawl is defined as low-density residential and commercial development on undeveloped land. Most of the time, people will move from these areas to try to find better areas to live. This has been the way of the world since the beginning. Urban sprawl in an ever-occurring problem in America and it continues to grow affecting ecosystems, down town areas, and smaller cites. Urban Sprawl is a problem that will have severe effects for all life if left …show more content…

The average American person spends eight 55-hour workweeks behind the steering wheel of a car annually that, could lead to more air pollution, which can add to poor health and smog problems. Spreading out growth creates water supply problems and can lead to water overconsumption like in California. A typical low-density or suburban population uses more water than a high-density city population. Landscaping is the primary reason for this unnecessary use of water. According to the EPA, 30 percent of the water used daily in the United States is devoted to outdoor use. It can also cause Racial and Economic Inequality, when residents move outside of a city’s center; they take their tax dollars with them. Often, it’s the city’s poorest residents that are left behind. This creates economic inequality and stratification based upon location. It also makes funding problems for the core, which directly affects the money available for education, crime stoppage, and caution and upkeep. Urban sprawl leads to racial exclusion as minorities are often left behind in the poorest parts of a state. This problem may not be as general as it has been in the past, but it's present