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The
Patterns and Process of Sprawl: Quantitative Measures, Typologies,
and Case Studies of Urban Growth
The
Patterns and Process of Sprawl is a three-year research project
conducted under the auspices of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
of Harvard University and supported by the United States Geological
Survey, of the Department of the Interior. Its chief goal is to
provide greater insight into patterns of urbanization and suburbanization
in the United States.
The project has two chief components. The first entails the collection of socio-economic data from the U. S. Census of ten metropolitan areas for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000, mapping the data through a Geographic Information System, and producing analytical reports pertaining to the data. The project has produced a series of raster datasets that characterize the patterns of urban development, especially demographic changes. The project has compiled census tract data for decennial years between 1970 and 2000 and computed the rates of change in this time period for the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The census data includes such characteristics as population size, population density, income, race, national origin, age, education, home-ownership, and automobile-ownership. In addition, the project has compiled county level data for the ten metropolitan areas on the population growth and density, amount and types of employment, and extent of commuting to work. The second component of the project intended to complement the statistical and mapping analysis is the research and writing of three case studies pertaining to the evolution of land use and planning. Each of the three case studies examines the history of the development and planning politics of a county outside Washington, D. C. The subjects of the case studies, Montgomery County, Maryland, Fairfax, Virginia, and Loudon, Virginia, were chosen to provide contrasts in approaches to land use planning. The case studies are based primarily on research of government records and interviews of participants in planning and development in the respective county. Of these, the Joint Center for Housing Studies has so far published as Working Papers, W04-2: “Happy to Grow: Development and Planning in Fairfax County, Virginia,” and W02-6: “Forty Years of Fighting Sprawl: Montgomery County, Maryland, and Growth Control Planning in the Metropolitan Region of Washington, D. C.” Project Team Chief Consultant: Alexander von Hoffman, Senior Research Fellow, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University Research Consultant and GIS Specialist: James DeNormandie Research Consultant on Planning: Lucille Harrigan |