Reasons for Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is the expansion of an urban area into the countryside.

Urban sprawl occurs because more people want to live in an urban area and there is a lack of space for new housing, the expansion of industry, transport links, open space, etc. so the urban area builds outwards on to greenfield sites.

Such urban growth has engulfed nearby villages, farmland and woodland. At first the growth was not well planned, but urban planners have been trying to control the growth of urban areas by creating green belts and using more brownfield sites.

Advantages

• Advantages to companies who have the opportunity to locate their companies in edge-of-town shopping centres
• Cheaper land than in urban locations provides better access to motorways and airports

Disadvantages

• Loss of agricultural land and public open space
• Loss of trade in traditional city centres
• Increasing pollution and traffic congestion in rural-urban fringe

Conservation and Green Belts

Green belts were the first attempt to stop urban sprawl.

Green belt areas are areas of green and open land on the edge of cities in which urban development is restricted.

There is now increasing pressure to build on greenfield sites within this protected land e.g around London

Brownfield Sites

Brownfield sites are urban sites which have been previously used for other things.

For example, old factories which have become disused can be converted into apartments.