History and creation of suburbs: governing issues and solutions in metropolitan sprawl

History Of Suburbs

The term suburb is defined as an area that is adjacent to the town and it is occupied. It is a small community as compared to the town community that commune to and from town on a daily basis or regular basis (Meriam-Webster, 2012).

In the U.S.A., the Levittowns are noted to have been the root of the suburbs by a large extent. This was the event after the WWII when the population suddenly increased upon the return of the soldiers who had gone abroad to fight the war. This upsurge of the population prompted a bill known as the GI bill of 1944 that approved the provision of money for the education and building of houses for the returning population. It was at this point that a man called William Levitt set out to buy vast pieces of land outside of the main cities like Philadelphia and New York and built fabricated houses therein. His firm Levitt and Sons Inc. embarked on mass-produced housing complexes in areas like Long Island, Hempstead Town as well as New York. This was between the years 1946 and 1951 and they became the symbol of suburbs during the post WWII building boom. These units contained playgrounds, shopping centers, swimming pools, schools and even community halls (Colin Stief, 2012).

The term sprawl is often used to refer to the absolute change in the manner of land usage and the shifting demographics within a particular geographical location. Sprawl can also be defined as the increased land development in the suburban areas that are distinguishably outside the urban centers. In the case of sprawls, the expansions are usually accompanied by redevelopment, lack of development as well as reuse of land within the urban centers.

Urban sprawl refers to the slow yet continuous decentralization of the occupation of people, with communities requiring more land and space to cater for the homes, shopping locations, workplaces as well as recreation areas for the very same population in the community.

In the past decades, America has experiences a vast increase in the sprawl and this increase has been attributed to some central factors like economic boom after the WWII especially during the lat 1940s and the 1950s. The other reason was the need to resettle the returning veterans also referred to as the baby boomers in a more cost effective manner. The other reason for the expansion of the sprawl especially in the late 60s and the 70s through early 80s was the 'white flight' incidence that was occasioned by the desegregation movements instigated by the civil rights movement.

In the more recent years, the sprawl has continued uncontrolled due several other factors like the choice of the home buyers who may want to live in the suburban areas due to the amenities that come with it like having access to public parks, proximity to more reputable schools, less crime neighborhoods, lesser tax on property and suchlike amenities have made people opt for the suburb instead of living in cities or in the rural regions.

The sprawl has also been encouraged by the businesses and developers choice where they feel its cheaper to develop a new area that has never been used before rather than redeveloping a dilapidated urban building or business center. Fro developers, the farmland are les expensive there as more farmers are hanging tools and opting for other forms of livelihoods instead of farming. This sprawl has also been occasioned by an increased demand for bigger houses by the home buyers hence the developers have to look for the land in the suburban in order to meet the demands of their clients (Cornel University Department of Sociology, 2010).

This sprawl in that last few years has not come without a significant number of disadvantages to the U.S.A. And governing issues in general. One such significant issue is the aspect of degradation of environment, since the new homes that end up being suburban sprawls are usually built on virgin land with nice forest covers. This has led to degradation of the environment as the forests are cut, waste disposal points hitherto not there being located and the air pollution de to vehicle traffic coming up in areas that initially were less polluted.

The sprawls also led to intrusion into undeveloped farm land and pasture fields yet this increase in the sprawl has not proportionately resulted in the increase in the settling of human population in these regions. This leaves the governing authorities with the question whether this increase in sprawls is of proportional benefit or it is just detrimental to the environment for the benefit of a few people especially in the modern times.