Discovering the Efficiency of Urban Sprawl

Bibliographic Data

ID23629233
AuthorsAlex Anas (University at Buffalo, State University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2012
Pages123-149
Publication date2012-09-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Oxford handbook of urban economics and planning (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195380620.013.0007
OpenAlexW2585815214
ISBN9780195380620
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited14

Sprawl refers to the aggregate land area in urban use. Planners view sprawl from a descriptive perspective, whereas economists view it from a normative one. This article opens with a brief review of how unpriced traffic congestion causes excessive travel, as well as excessive urban sprawl, and how Pigouvian taxation could restore efficiency by eliminating the excessive travel. It also examines how this conclusion has been reversed in recent theoretical models. New results, based on polycentric theory, have helped discover the efficiency of urban sprawl. It argues that excess urban sprawl can often be negative. Further, it turns to key empirical facts about urban areas and presents a statistical analysis of the city size's effect on average commutes. Finally, it emphasizes the fact that new urbanism perceived as antisprawl tools, may be wrongly promoted. But these tools of modern planning have an important role to play in serving niche markets.

Civil engineering · Economic geography · Economics · Environmental planning · Geography · Normative · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Public economics · Regional science · Traffic congestion · Transport engineering · Urban planning · Urban sprawl · Urbanism · Architecture · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis · Spatial and Panel Data Analysis · Urban Transport and Accessibility

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