"SPRAWL" - GOOD OR BAD? : A TRANSPORTATION PLANNER'S POINT OF VIEW
URBAN SPRAWL CANNOT BE EVALUATED AND JUDGED ON ITS TRANSPORTATION ASPECTS ALONE. MANY COMMUNITIES AND REGIONS HAVE SIMILAR PHYSICAL AND ECONOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS, BUT THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT THE ASSUMPTION THAT THEY ENTERTAIN THE SAME DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES. A UNIFORM JUDGMENT ON THE EFFECTS OF SPRAWL CANNOT BE APPLIED INDISCRIMINATELY, BUT MUST BE ANALYZED AND EVALUATED SEPARATELY FOR EACH COMMUNITY OR REGION. TABLES ARE PRESENTED SHOWING COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC DATA FOR SELECTED URBAN AREAS AND TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENT DENSITY. LOW-DENSITY DEVELOPMENT APPEARS TO INCREASE BOTH THE SIZE OF THE ROAD-SYSTEM AND THE TOTAL VEHICLE-MILES OF TRAVEL. HIGH-DENSITY DEVELOPMENT IS DISCUSSED. FROM A TRAFFIC ENGINEER'S POINT-OF-VIEW, BOTH DEVELOPMENT-DENSITIES HAVE DRAWBACKS ALTHOUGH THE LOW-DENSITY VARIETY PROBABLY WILL BE FAVORED. LOW-DENSITY DEVELOPMENT GIVES MORE ROADS TO CONTROL, PRODUCES MORE VEHICLE-MILES OF TRAVEL AND WILL JUSTIFY LARGER BUDGETS FOR CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE AND CONTROL. THE POINTS-OF-VIEW CONSIDERED, SIMPLY INDICATE THAT SPRAWL IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD BUT SIMPLY A STATE OF DEVELOPMENT BETTER SUITED TO SOME URBAN AREAS THAN TO OTHERS.
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Supplemental Notes:
- 7 Pp, 3 Fig, 3 TAB, 5 REF
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Corporate Authors:
Institute of Traffic Engineers
2029 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006 -
Authors:
- Roer, P O
- Conference:
- Publication Date: 1969-8
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Development; Land use; Real estate development; Traffic control; Traffic engineering; Transportation planning; Urban areas; Urban transportation; Vehicle miles of travel
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00225586
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Feb 9 1970 12:00AM