Why Is It Important To Maintain The Place Identity And Stop/Slow Urban Sprawl

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Limits to development is having boundaries to developable areas and undevelopable areas. The idea is to maintain the place identity and stop/slow urban sprawl by limiting the growth of certain areas. This policy involves heavy decision making of acceptable and unacceptable developments made by the local government.
Smart growth is a policy-based movement where the urban area is focused on widening investments of infrastructures creating new opportunities and protecting open spaces. Cities using smart growth will usually have a transit system, open and green spaces, mixed building uses and attracting a mixture of income. The idea is accommodate different needs with established transit system, aiming to decrease travel time and diverse travel …show more content…

Dale, Ling & Newman (2008) suggests that every place has a physical characteristic that attracts people to live in (p. 269). As stated above, people want to keep certain identities. These could be aesthetic features like water (river, ocean), greenery, connection towards natural systems and local distinctiveness. These identities give the city a direction for sustainability. An example would be Whistler, known for its skiing resorts and snow. People relocating to Whistler may like the snow, the entertainment that Whistler provides. If the city does not acknowledge its identities during development, it will directly or indirectly destroy the ‘place’. Merritt, a town in Canada, showed the lack of acknowledgement in development, resulting in a loss of place for locals to relate. The influx of residents, allowed Merritt to develop economic structures like Walmart. As Dale, Ling & Newman (2008) describes the development of Merritt to suit the newer residents; it clashed with older resident’s sense of place. This resulted into people leaving the area because of “social malaise” (p.