Urban Sprawl

8 Pages 1899 Words

As I stroll the streets of Downtown Davenport, to investigate the latest flood, I couldn’t help but notice a theme that resonated through most of the buildings, streets, and housing around that area: poverty. I toured the area known as the Gold Coast of Davenport, a historic neighborhood of grand Victorian houses that is directly north of Downtown Davenport, and I was saddened to see an area that has been forgotten. Although attempts have been made to restore many homes, most of what was once examples of the splendor of architecture and the homes of the elite of this city have now been abandoned of hope, overlooked as viable housing and left to deteriorate. Then I drive to Super-target. On my way I see structures such as car washes, fast-food restaurants and parking lots claiming what used to be farmland. What once was rich soil and grasslands has now been replaced by offensive architecture, overrun by chain stores… and I see no end in sight. In this paper, I will explore the forces that have driven the expansion of cities like Davenport across the United States, investigate the consequences of these augmentations, and inform you of progress that has been made to stop policies that encourage this unsustainable growth.
This phenomena is what is commonly referred to as urban sprawl. I would define urban sprawl as poorly planned and uncoordinated development that pushes the relocation of residential and commercial structures to the furthest fringes of an existing community, often along it’s highways and encroaching on it’s rural countryside. Some traits that mark urban sprawl are seemingly boundless outward growth, sparsely populated new developments, and great fiscal inequality among new communities of the original city. In order for us to better understand how to control, improve, and fuel sustainable growth, we must first look at the initial factors that have caused this unchecked growth.
Suburban growth began as an...