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Definition: urban sprawl from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Outward spread of built-up areas caused by their expansion. This is the result of urbanization. Unchecked urban sprawl may join cities into conurbations; green belt policies are designed to prevent this.

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Cities and Utopia

Urban Design in the 20th Century

Urban sprawl


Urban Sprawl

From Encyclopedia of Social Problems
In the early 21st century, urban sprawl continues to be a source of considerable controversy and political debate, yet many Americans quietly accept sprawl. They express their acceptance by moving farther away from central cities into housing and business developments on land that was formerly rural and undeveloped. While a significant number of suburban communities have existed in the United States since the late 19th century, the greatest growth in suburbs occurred after World War II. At the dawn of the 20th century, the suburban population represented less than 12 percent of the total U.S. population. By 1950, that figure doubled, and it doubled again by 2000, so that 52 percent lived in suburban communities. While the U.S. Census does not officially define suburban area, the term generally refers to the territory within metropolitan areas that is outside of the central city. The term sprawl refers to a pattern of metropolitan growth characterized by low-density, primarily…
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Key terms: compact city; urban sprawl; densification; urban development; suburbanism The compact city movement originated in northern Europe during the inter-war period as a response to urban sprawl and suburban development. Although the term ‘compact city’ creates the impression of a single, …
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Full text Article What is urban sprawl and how can it be controlled?

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Background Urbanization is the process of growth of urban areas. Urban growth is caused by a combination of migration (people moving into the city) and natural increase (more people being born than dying). The rural–urban fringe is the zone around a town or city where housing starts to become less…
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Full text Article urban sprawl

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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Full text Article urban sprawl

From The Macquarie Dictionary
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Full text Article urban sprawl

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
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Full text Article urban sprawl

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
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Full text Article urban sprawl

From Dictionary of Architecture and Construction
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Full text Article sprawl

From Collins English Dictionary
vb 1 ( intr ) to sit or lie in an ungainly manner with one's limbs spread out 2 to fall down or knock down with the limbs spread out in an ungainly way 3 to spread out or cause to spread out in a straggling fashion: his handwriting sprawled all over the paper ▷ n 4 the act or an…
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Full text Article Soleri, Paolo

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1919–2013, Italian-American architect. He studied architecture in his native Turin (Ph.D., 1946). Soleri's works have been influenced by both Frank Lloyd Wright , with whom he apprenticed in the 1940s, and Antonio Gaudí . He developed an architecture that expresses a functional and organic way of…
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Full text Article obnoxious

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
pronunciation (1597) 1 archaic :  exposed to something unpleasant or harmful — used with to 2 archaic :  deserving of censure 3 :  odiously or disgustingly objectionable : highly offensive ob•nox•ious•ly adv ob•nox•ious•ness n Let's get right into it. The title of your book, Why We Suck , is pretty…
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