Causes of sprawl: A portrait from space

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Burchfield, Marcy; Overman, Henry G.; Puga, Diego; Turner, Matthew A.
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of Toronto; Pompeu Fabra University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2006.121.2.587
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 587-633
• 关键词: THEMATIC MAPPER DATA; URBAN-DEVELOPMENT; UNITED-STATES; LAND; GROWTH; EVOLUTION; TRANSITION; decline

摘要

We study the extent to which U. S. urban development is sprawling and what determines differences in sprawl across space. Using remote-sensing data to track the evolution of land use on a grid of 8.7 billion 30 X 30 meter cells, we measure sprawl as the amount of undeveloped land surrounding an average urban dwelling. The extent of sprawl remained roughly unchanged between 1976 and 1992, although it varied dramatically across metropolitan areas. Ground water availability, temperate climate, rugged terrain, decentralized employment, early public transport infrastructure, uncertainty about metropolitan growth, and unincorporated land in the urban fringe all increase sprawl.