Don't Call It Sprawl
Metropolitan Structure in the 21st Century

Bogart puts the current policy debate over urban sprawl into a broader analytical context.

William T. Bogart (Author)

9780521678032, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 September 2006

230 pages, 16 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.35 kg

"A leading writer in what has become known as the anti-anti-sprawl literature, Bogart provides strong evidence that what we see as edge-city chaos has in fact a strong logic, and that failure to appreciate the economic, social and demographic cases of sprawl will frustrate any attempt to control or direct it." - Literary Review of Canada

In Don't Call It Sprawl, the current policy debate over urban sprawl is put into a broader analytical and historical context. The book informs people about the causes and implications of the changing metropolitan structure rather than trying to persuade them to adopt a panacea to all perceived problems. Bogart explains modern economic ideas about the structure of metropolitan areas to people interested in understanding and influencing the pattern of growth in their city. Much of the debate about sprawl has been driven by a fundamental lack of understanding of the structure, functioning, and evolution of modern metropolitan areas. The book analyzes ways in which suburbs and cities (trading places) trade goods and services with each other. This approach helps us better understand commuting decisions, housing location, business location, and the impact of public policy in such areas as downtown redevelopment and public school reform.

1. The world of today
2. Making things better: the importance of flexibility
3. Are we there yet?
4. Trading places
5. Downtown: a place to work, a place to visit, a place to live
6. How zoning matters
7. Love the density, hate the congestion
8. Homogeneity and heterogeneity in local government
9. The world of tomorrow.

Subject Areas: Urban & municipal planning [RPC], Economic geography [RGCM], Economics [KC]