Smart Growth

Smart growth, a term that appeared in the urban geography and planning literature in the mid 1990s, signifies the need to adopt policies as countermeasures for urban sprawl. The latter is defined as the outward expansion of the limits of an urban area through the development of low-density suburbs, where it is uneconomical to sustain public transportation systems. The results are excessive use of the private automobile, an increasing number of work hours lost in traffic congestion, and a rising volume of automobile emissions. The latter is associated with greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming and the deterioration of urban air quality with the formation of ozone and smog, which have significant detrimental effects on human health and the city infrastructure.

Other detrimental effects ...