Sprawl is the result of a process that began largely after WW II whereby technological advances and business and marketing strategies spurred demographic shifts and altered consumption patterns in favour of privacy, local control, and flexible personal transportation. Sprawl can be defined as extensive low-density development on greenfields. Sprawl typically has the following characteristics:
| Unnecessary land consumption |
| Low average densities in comparison with older centres |
| Widespread strip commercial development along roads |
| Auto dependence. Physically and economically segregated subdivisions |
| Fragmented open space, wide gaps between development and a scattered appearance |
| Separation of uses into distinct areas |
| Repetitive one story commercial buildings surrounded by acres of parking |
| Lack of public spaces and community centres |
| Automobile dependency. New wide roads |
| Utility expansion/extension |
| Segregated land uses by zones |
| Lack of centralized or coordinated planning |
| New development that is outside established settlements |
| Large financial inequalities among localities |
| Public investments in roads, public buildings, water, sewer and other infrastructure in peripheral areas; decrease in investment in existing centres. |
| Land regulations that promote suburban style development |
| Other
public policies, including tax policies and utility rate policies Low cost fuel |
| Lower land prices in peripheral areas |
| Higher costs of development associated with existing centres |
| Consumer desire for rural lifestyle with large homes and large yards, safe environment and less traffic congestion |
| Preference of business and industry for easy highway access, plenty of free parking and corporate identity |
| Demands of commercial tenants for particular locations and designs for buildings and sites |
| Telecommunications advances |
| Commercial lending practices that favour suburban development |
| Relationship Between Population Growth and Sprawl |
Analysing suburban sprawl shows that population growth variable explains about 31% of the growth in land area and even those areas that experienced no population growth increased in urbanized land area by an average of 18% and urban areas are expanding at about twice the rate that the population is growing.
It is important to remember that if there are multiple causes of sprawl, then their impact is multiplied together, so that if population increases by 50%, and density decreases by 50%, land consumed will increase not by 100%, but by 300%. So poor land use makes the impact of population growth worse, and vice-versa.
| Subsidies and Population Growth |
A growing body of research shows that many communities are subsidizing new development in the form of new roads, water and sewer lines, schools, and emergency services. Communities are also subsidizing growth by offering incentives to new businesses or industries that locate there, often sacrificing tax revenues needed to serve existing residents and businesses.
| Reducing Density |
Attempt to discourage population growth by reducing density can lead to more sprawl and more growth. Tools aimed at simply capping growth by reducing density can be racially and economically exclusionary. Low-density-only leads to exclusion of racial minorities either directly or by spurring a shift to lower housing production and single-family unit housing, leading to a lower percentage of renters and lower rental affordability.
Increased public costs
| Unnecessary public costs for redundant infrastructure outside existing centres |
| Excessive public costs for roads and utility line extensions and service delivery to dispersed development |
| Unutilised and under utilized infrastructure in existing centres |
| Reduced opportunity for public transportation services |
Loss of sense of place and community decline
| Fragmented and dispersed communities and a decline in social interaction |
| Isolation of some populations, such as poor and elderly, in urban areas |
| Decline in vitality and economic and fiscal viability of existing urban and village centres |
Decline in environmental quality and natural resource production
| Fragmented open space and wildlife habitat |
| Loss of productive farmland and forestland |
| Increase in auto dependency and increased fuel consumption |
| Decline in water quality from increased urban runoff, shoreline development and loss of wetlands |
Decline in economic opportunity
| Premature disinvestments in existing buildings, facilities and services in urban and village centres |
| Relocation of jobs to peripheral areas at some distance from population centres |
| Increased commuting times and costs |
| Decline in number of jobs in some sectors, such as retail |
| Isolation of employees from activity centres, homes, day care and schools |
| Reduced ability to finance public services in urban centres |
| Inability to capitalize on unique cultural, historic and public space resources (such as waterfronts) in urban and village centres |