Urbanization and Urban Sprawl

Department of Infrastructure Section of Building and Real Estate Economics Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan

Master of Science Thesis No. 294

Urbanization and Urban Sprawl

Author: Haregewoin Bekele

Thesis Supervisor: Hans Lind Stockholm 2005

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was written to fulfill the requirement for the award of M.Sc. degree in Real Estate Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. I would like to thank first and foremost to the Almighty God for giving me the strength and patience to reach this far. I am indebted to my project supervisor Prof. Hans Lind for his time, useful comments, guidance, follow up and suggestions through out this work. Many thanks to Hans Hede of RTK for his time and discussion about Stockholm County and Prof. Urban Dick Vestbro for his inspiration, interesting and useful information. My sincerest gratitude to my parents, Bekea and Etu and to my brothers for their support in everyway. I hope I would be able to repay you, in time... Finally, my appreciation to all my friends here and back home and to all those who are all part of my Stockholm experience. Haregewoin April 2005

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MASTER OF SCIENCE THESIS No. 294 Department of Infrastructure Section of Building and Real Estate Economics . Title: Urbanization and Urban Sprawl Author: Haregewoin Bekele Supervisor: Hans Lind Keywords: Urban sprawl, urbanization, land-use, population, leapfrogging Abstract The natural history of urbanization has not yet been written, for only a small part of the preliminary work has been done. But it dates back from the ancient times of the origin of cities. In the process, people witnessed the evolution of cities from their ancestral form (the village) to small port /rail based towns and to cities of today with skyscrapers adorning landscapes. At the end of the 20th century, urban growth was rapidly pushing cities further and further out while on the 21st century the dominant form of city living became based on the automobile. This latest stretched form of the city with low density at the periphery is sometimes called sprawl. There has been no clear consensus regarding what exactly ’urban sprawl’ is or how it is caused because sprawl is one name for many situations. Although many scholars tried to come up with explanations of the term, the central component of most definitions and most people’s understanding of sprawl is this: Sprawl is the spreading out of a city and its suburbs over more and more rural land at the periphery of an urban area. This involves the conversion of open space (rural land) into built-up, developed land over time. 1 While many factors may have helped in explaining urban sprawl and its causes, it ultimately has always been a population and land-use issue. This paper will outline possible conditions and impacts of urban sprawl. Using a variety of discussions and arguments the founding is that sprawl is a result of inter-related social, economical, physical and political factors. Hence, different pattern of sprawl arise for different areas. The paper also includes discussion of urban sprawl for four selected cities. 1

http://www.sprawlcity.org/defining.html

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Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Background and Problem Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Objectives of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Theoretical Framework 2.1 The Term Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Causes of Sprawl . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Land-use and Land Consumption 2.2.3 Population and Density . . . . . 2.3 Effects of Sprawl . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Positive Sides of Sprawl . . . . . 2.3.2 Negative Sides of Sprawl . . . . . 2.4 Solutions Against Sprawl . . . . . . . . . 2.5 The Idea of Smart Growth . . . . . . . . 3 Global Urbanization Trends 3.1 Urbanization and Urban Growth . . . 3.2 Urbanization in the World: Trends and 3.3 Urbanization without Growth . . . . . 3.4 Mega-cities of the World . . . . . . . .

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4 Urban Sprawl in Different Context: Case Cities 4.1 Beijing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Chinese Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.2 Selected Case City: Beijing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.3 City Structure and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.4 The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl . . . . . . . 4.1.5 Planning and Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Addis Ababa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Ethiopian Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 Selected Case City: Addis Ababa . . . . . . . . . . .

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4.2.3 City Structure and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.4 The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl . . . . . . . . 4.2.5 Planning and Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stockholm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.1 Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Swedish Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.2 Selected Case City: Stockholm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.3 City Structure and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.4 The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl . . . . . . . . 4.3.5 Planning and Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Los Angeles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.1 Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the US Context 4.4.2 Selected Case City: Los Angeles, California . . . . . . 4.4.3 City Structure and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.4 The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl . . . . . . . . 4.4.5 Planning and policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Analysis and Discussion 5.1 Patterns and Extent of Sprawl 5.2 Causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Comparison . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Concluding Summary . . . . .

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References

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35 35 36 37 37 38 39 39 41 42 42 44 44 47 47 49 49 49 50 50 50 51 54

List of Tables 1 2 3 4 5 6

Emergence, History and Expectation of Mega Cities around the World (in millions). Source: UN Habitat 2000. . . . . . . Growth of Urban Population and Urbanized Area in China . Increase in Beijing Urban Built-up Area 1949-1996 . . . . . Major Land Cover Change for Addis Ababa and Surrounding Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sweden’s Growth of Urban and Total Population 1990-2010 . Land use, Stockholm Region 2003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. 26 . 27 . 31 . 36 . 38 . 40

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US Urban and Rural Population Distribution . . . . . . . . . 43 Los Angeles Region Increase in Built Up Area . . . . . . . . . 45 Los Angeles Population and Housing Figures 1970-1998 . . . . 47

List of Figures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Use of Automobile and Sprawl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Costs of Sprawl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . World’s Urban Population Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selected Indicators for the Urban and Rural Population by Major Area, 1950-2030. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . World Urbanization and Income Growth, 1970-95 . . . . . . . Rapid Urban Expansion of Beijing through the years 1949-1994 Settlement Development of the Stockholm from 1910 to 1999. Los Angeles Region: Change in Urbanized Area, 1970-1990. .

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Introduction

1.1

Background and Problem Formulation

Through most of history the human population has lived a rural lifestyle. However, in the first decade of the 20th century this trend started to change and the world is still becoming urbanized as thousands of people migrate to cities. Urbanization is now a rising trend seen all over the world, especially in an alarming rate in developing countries. This makes cities grow both in number and in physical size. In quite a lot of instances, the percentage increase in population is accompanied by more than proportional percentage increase of an urbanized area. This is an indication that the two growth rates differ and urban area grows in a more rapid pace. Because of the different activities and processes that take place in the urban ecosystem everyday, the subject of urbanization and urban sprawl has drawn attention from ecologists, urban planners, civil engineers, sociologists, administrators, policy makers, and finally to common urban or rural resident. Aristotle once wrote that men come together in cities to live, but stay in them to live the good life. "Cities are now junctions in the flows of people, information, finance and freight....They’re less and less places where people live and work " says Nigel Harris, a professor of development planning (Ellis and Harris, 2004). The subject of urban sprawl by itself is so broad that it can only allow one to just tap into many resources. In most cases, urban sprawl is regarded as one of the major effects of urban growth. As a land-use phenomenon, it is typically characterized in the following way in American literatures. • Excessive land consumption • Low densities at peripheries in comparison with older centers • Lack of choice in ways to travel • Fragmented open space, wide gaps between development and scattered appearance • Lack of choice in housing types and prices • Separation of uses into distinct areas

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• Repetitive one story development • Commercial buildings surrounded by acres of parking and • Lack of public spaces and community centers A complex of driving forces such as social, economical, political physical factors and their interactions cause urban sprawl. Different factors and methods were used to build models that can either help predict or explain better the effect of sprawl. However, the complexity of the term and the ambiguous meaning it is given in different contexts makes it difficult to come to a consensus of a distinct pattern. While some argue that urban sprawl is bad, harmful and a threat to ecology, others argue that it is something inevitable and maybe even should be encouraged. The study presented here does not attempt to resolve the difference of opinion, but the position is with those that are troubled by it. Therefore, throughout this paper the research will focus on urban sprawl as problematic and will stress on measures that should be taken to combat it. Until recently, the problem of urban sprawl was restricted to the developed world. But it also exists in developing countries although in different form. For developing countries sprawl is largely a result of necessity- people move to the city in search of better employment and opportunity (Menon, 2004). This leads to an increase in size well beyond the limits of the city. In contrast, sprawl in developed countries is a result of higher incomes, which in turn result in people preferring (and affording) to live in the outskirts of the city, with open spaces at reasonable distances from cities. Even though the causes and patterns of sprawl are different depending on the context in which they occur, solutions proposed are similar with some modifications. Prior needs and economic viability should be taken into consideration for best results. ’Concentrating growth’ is what many planners recommend as a measure against sprawl for a sustainable city.

1.2

Objectives of Study

The objective of this study is to give a better understanding of the concept ’sprawl’. The aim here is to share and review relevant background information, views about urban sprawl, indicate problems and suggest possible and relevant solutions. The link between population and growth pressure and

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its effect in urban land-use change in developing and developed countries perspective is discussed. In addition, the objective is • To investigate different causes and land-use patterns that lead to urban sprawl • Describe inter-connected social, physical, political factors and their effect on sprawl and • Describe urbanization trends and urban growth

1.3

Methodology

This paper is mostly based on previously written material and tries to discuss the concept in two ways: general literature review and comparative case discussion. The research method applied here is qualitative in which the researcher explores relationships using textual rather than quantitative data. Case study, observation, and ethnography are considered forms of qualitative research. Results that are observed or gained are not usually considered generalizable, but are often transferable. As the aim is to better understand the concept, books, different research papers, articles and brochures were considered. Identification of key characteristics and analysis were made from secondary sources. Annual reports, documents, journals, different books and research papers on various relevant urban issues were reviewed. Most data and figures are from non-governmental organisations such as United Nation and its branch offices that deal with population, urban and environment related issues. Additional facts and figures are taken from Country Fact and regional and national statistics offices. It should be noted that data is less plentiful and less reliable for developing countries.To a minor extent, informal discussions were held with professionals in planning offices, professors and lecturers in Urban Planning division, KTH for a general overview. The contents and conclusions are also based on a variety of documents, research reports, conference papers etc. For better understanding of differences and comparative discussion four case cities are chosen: Beijing, Stockholm, Addis Ababa and Los Angeles. They were chosen considering the economic status of the areas in the category of developed/developing country. But each city has its uniqueness that makes it interesting to be researched deeper. Beijing is the capital city of the most populous country in the whole world. Stockholm is the greenest 3

and the most nature friendly city in Europe with almost no urban sprawl. Addis Ababa is the capital city of the most populous country in Africa with rapid urbanization and declining growth. Almost every article or research paper about urban sprawl does not discuss the topic without mentioning Los Angeles. It is believed that Los Angeles is a model of growth in a ’smarter’ way. On the contrary, it is also a model of one of the worst sprawled cities. "For many Americans, Los Angeles is a sprawling model of what they don’t want their city to become..." 2 . The city stopped individual sprawl by increasing density (number of people per area) and is now the most densely populated city in America. The organizational layout of the whole paper is as follows: The first section (chapter 2) will serve as a theoretical framework and will describe the term ’urban sprawl’ in detail and discuss how and what causes sprawl. Effects and solutions are also suggested here. The second section (chapter 3) will focus on global urbanization trends and related topics. Tables and figures from UN are presented for further clarification. The third section (chapter 4) aims at describing four different cities. Urbanization, urban sprawl, causes, effects, planning and policies are discussed for each city and a general but non-restrictive analysis is included. The last section (chapter 5) summarizes and concludes the observations.

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www.sprawlcity.com/losangeles.html

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Theoretical Framework

2.1

The Term Defined

’Sprawl’ in simple terms is just spreading out of a city and its suburbs over more and more rural land at the periphery of an urban area while in reality it is a complex phenomenon that mean different things in different areas and conditions. Early uses of the term suggest that it consumes excessive space in an uncontrolled, disorderly manner leading to poor distribution and loss of open spaces, high demand for transportation, and social segregation. This definition has not changed much through time. Modern usage of the term ’sprawl’ was coined by Earle Draper, one of the first city planners in the United States in 1937 (Black, 1996)3 . Since then, the issue became popular and concerns continue to grow with different measures introduced to combat it in one way or another. As the word ’sprawl’ is a multidimensional phenomenon, it has caused much confusion. Possible mathematical regressions attempting to explain sprawl from land use perspective such as the degree of compactness did not generate statistically significant results (Wassmer, 2005) and hence the difficulty to mathematically define the term. The Vermont Forum on Sprawl defines sprawl as: dispersed development outside of compact urban and village centres along highways and in rural counryside.4 In her report, Revisiting Sprawl: Lessons From the Past, Burgess (1998) defined sprawl as "...expanding physical development, at decreasing densities, in metropolitan regions, where the spatial growth exceeds population growth" 5 On the other hand, The Oxford English Dictionary (2001) defines the word as "the straggling expansion of an indeterminate urban or industrial environment into an adjoining countryside; the area of this advancement." Here, sprawl as an adjective has been used to describe the pattern of a city’s growth, as a verb- describing the process of that growth, and as a noundescribing an urban landform. In yet another instance, a jointly written paper by researchers entitled Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground (2001) puts forward six general categories of 3

Urban sprawl: Thomas J. Nechyba and Randall P.Walsh http://www.vtsprawl.org/Learnabout/sprawl/whatissprawlmain.htm 5 http://www4.ncsu.edu/ grhess/papers/sprawl.pdf 4

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defining sprawl from an analysis in social science and planning perspective.6 1. Sprawl is defined as one or more existing patterns of development. Those most frequently mentioned are low-density, leapfrogging, distance to central facilities, dispersion of employment and residential development, and continuous strip development. This definition characterizes land use conditions, and it is conceivable that continuous, development (ribbon development along corridors), and leapfrog development are two different kinds of sprawl (Harvey and Clark 1965). Other development patterns frequently characterized as sprawl in different literatures include large lot single-family residential, radial discontinuity, single land use or physical separation of land uses and widespread commercial development. 2. Sprawl is defined as a process of development that occurs over some period of time as an urban area expands. This suggests that some parts of an urban area may pass through a sprawl stage before eventually thickening and diversifying so they can no longer be characterized as sprawl, at least by those authors who used to signify a stage or process of development. They hose sprawl as a verb, rather than a noun connoting a condition. But there is little in the literature to indicate when sprawl metamorphoses into non-sprawl. 3. Sprawl is defined by an example, by reference to the average density of a particular urban area. In some literatures, sprawl is frequently defined by one or more examples of low-density or scattered patterns of urban development. Los Angeles is usually named the best exemplary definition of sprawled city. The flexibility of definition by example makes it possible to include all sorts of development patterns, from planned communities with clustered housing and mixed uses to exurban rural estates. 4. Sprawl is used as an aesthetic judgment about a general urban development pattern. Generally, sprawl is widely known as ugly development with tendency to discontinuity and haphazard layout. 5. Sprawl is a cause of an externality, such as high automobile dependence, isolation of the poor. Traffic congestion (Downs 1999 and Black 1996 (Vermont Forum on sprawl 1999) environmental contamination (Sierra Club 1999), income and racial segregation of neighbourhoods (Downs 1998), the jobs-housing mismatch (Or6

http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/HPD_1204_galster.pdf

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field 1997), conversion of farmland to urban uses (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1999), and civic alienation (Popenoe 1979), are among problems of urban life and have been attributed to sprawl. But they basically describe what sprawl does (or is supposed to do) rather than what it is. 6. Sprawl is the consequence or effect of some independent variable, such as fragmented local government, ’poor’ planning, or exclusionary zoning. Sprawl occurs as a consequence of the fragmentation of control over landuse in metropolitan areas. As the term so widely used, all descriptions of sprawl leave one to search for something more definite and solid. Questions like how far should a development has to stretch, how dense or thin should it be in order to be called ’sprawl’ will be left unanswered. But with an empirical definition it would be easier to conduct a discussion of the forces and factors that cause certain patterns of development and face the consequences that follow from certain urban planning forms for different population groups, such as a region’s poor residents. This can make it easier to tackle problems that can arise from poor land management and therefore lead one to best and effective usage of the limited resource: land. Thus generally speaking, as a noun, sprawl implies a condition characterizing an urban area or part of it at a particular time. Based on descriptions of conditions characterizing sprawl in literature and amplified by observation and experience, the following conceptual definition is suggested (Galster, Hanson, R.Ratcliffe, Wolman, Coleman and Freihage, 2001). Sprawl (n.) is a pattern of land use in an urbanized area that exhibits low levels of some combination of eight distinct dimensions: density, continuity, concentration, compactness, centrality, nuclearity, diversity and proximity. In the discussion throughout this paper, this same combined definition will be used since it is flexible and non-restrictive. It should be pointed out that all development is not sprawl and all sprawl does not have the same characteristics or dimensions. The literature will, therefore, try to discuss about urbanization, urban sprawl and the factors behind it in different contexts of the developed and developing world. Given that there is no agreed comprehensive definition, it is not surprising that there is also little agreement on the characteristics, causes and impacts of sprawl.

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2.2

Causes of Sprawl

Generally, population growth, rise in household income, subsidization of infrastructure investments like roads, ineffective land-use, excessive growth, social problems in central cities and poor land policies are taken to be the main causes of sprawl. One of the main factors that help in explaining the increasing sub-urbanization of population in rich countries is the demand for larger suburban lots. With rise in household incomes, people who move into the suburbs are motivated to a significant degree by the desire for more living space. Between 1950 and 1980, one-half of the increased sub-urbanization in America can be explained by people getting richer (Glaeser and Kahn, 2003). Compared to people who live in cities, suburbanites live in larger houses, on larger lots and use automobiles more often. Developed countries like USA also invest a lot of money on road and transport infrastructures encouraging the use of private cars. The high correlation between using automobiles and living in low-density edge cities may not prove that cars caused sprawl but is an indication that the two strongly complement each other (see Figure 1). Both rising incomes and automobile ownership were therefore necessary conditions. Most people do not want to live in the cities - they choose to move out. Thus, sprawl in developed countries is usually a matter of preference. In the developed world, the movement of people from rural area of the country to more heavily populated cities and towns has been reversed. In contrast, for developing countries sprawl is largely a result of necessity - people move to the city in search of better employment and opportunities (Menon, 2001). They could be driven out of their farmlands for different reasons such as bad weather conditions, poor harvest or simply because they do not have means of income. Increased urban population leads to an increase in size well beyond the limits of the city. When the cities are not expanding, the people are forced to live in informal settlements with increased congestion and density (higher number of people per household and no basic services).

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Figure 1: Use of Automobile and Sprawl

2.2.1

Population

Often, one comes across population growth as the main cause of urban problems and urban sprawl. The global population has doubled over the past 40 years with remarkable shifts in geographical distribution (State of World Population, 1999). Africa has grown the fastest. Asia, by far the most populous region, has more than doubled in size (to over 3.6 billion), as has Latin America and the Caribbean. In contrast, the population of Northern America has grown by only 50 per cent, and Europe’s has increased by only 20 per cent and is now roughly stable. Over the second half of the twentieth century, the total population of the world increased at an average annual rate of 1.75 per cent. In comparison, the world urban population increased at an average annual rate of 2.68 per cent (UN). The difference between these two rates of growth, that is, between the growth rate of the urban population and that of the total population, is the rate of growth of the proportion urban. Thus, between 1950 and 2000, 9

the world population urbanized rapidly, rising from 30 percent in 1950 to 47 percent in 2000. As a result of these unprecedented trends, the population of the world, which during most of human history has lived mainly in rural settlements and grew very slowly, is on the verge of becoming more urban than rural for the first time in history. An increase in a country’s urban population can be due to three causes: the natural growth rate of the urban population, the re-classification of rural settlements as they grow and reach a certain number that makes them cities and towns, and rural-urban migration. Although data was unavailable to distinguish among the three, a 1979 study showed that in 29 developing countries, between 1960 and 1970, about 61 percent of urban growth resulted from natural growth- the excess of births over deaths. Of greatest interest especially in more recent years, however, is rural-urban migration, as this is what is most commonly thought of as ’urbanization’ and accounts for 40 percent of urban population increase. 7 Change in land-use can produce a change in quality of life for those living within the landscape. This alters the attractiveness of living in the countryside compared to urban life and, therefore, affects the net migration between urban and rural locations. For many years though, rural-urban migration was viewed favourably in the economic development literature. Migration was thought to be a natural process in which surplus labour was gradually withdrawn from the rural sector to provide needed manpower for urban industrial growth process. But it has greatly exceeded rates of job creation and service provision and became the cause of many of cities’ political and social problems. People’s movement in the 20th century is constrained by availability of jobs and supply rate of housing. Countries are directing policies at reducing and through time stopping the flow of people. Even though all fingers point at population pressure as the key factor for change in land use and hence urban sprawl, cities with no population growth were also observed to sprawl (Blankenship, 2001). Therefore, the acre of land that is sprawled is not proportional to population growth in most cases. Still, the only way to stop urban crowding and to solve most of the urban problems of both the developed and developing countries lies in reducing the overall rate of population growth. 7

World Overpopulation Awareness: www.overpopulation.org/human.html

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2.2.2

Land-use and Land Consumption

There is a major controversy whether land-use and consumption decisions are the primary engines of urban sprawl or whether it is continuing population boom that provides most of the expansion. Some argue that sprawl is first and foremost a land-use phenomenon since even an area of static population can experience sprawl as its built environment is modified in a sparse, low-density, auto-friendly way pushing city limits further and further out. A careful analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that these two sprawl factors share equally the blame for some, if not all, of the sprawl in some regions of the country. Therefore, questions like "Is population growth or land-use change worse for sprawl?" can only be answered after a deeper observation of the situation, causes and effects within the area in question. Cities grow, with or without planning, and develop landscape characteristics that persist through time determining how they will function. Fulfilling the resource requirements of a growing population ultimately requires some form of land-use change in order to provide for food, living space, recreation, infrastructure development and service provision. Historical constraints on city size limitation were cost of transport to export goods/ import agricultural products, the degree of economy of scale relative to market demand and the cost of carrying on day-to-day activities within the city itself (commuting to work, delivery of water, disposal of waste and sewage). These were all relaxed with time. Some possible forces driving land-use and land-cover changes are population, technology (mainly automobile), political economy and political structure. Land consumption - the amount of land used per person - is the inverse of population density, the higher the population the lower the amount of land used per person.8 In developed countries, one half of increased sub-urbanization between 1950 and 1980 can be explained by increased demand for larger plots of land per inhabitant. This is because of higher incomes. Increased income also means high probability of owning a private car and having a ’ground-floor’ house (not apartment) in the outer periphery of the city. The other alternative reasoning as to why growth of the suburbs has come about is because people have fled the social problems of the inner city. In addition, population pressure in city centres enhances the competition for employment, production and sales and hence some planning policies favour decentralization and locate firms and residences in the urban fringes creating 8

http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/SprawlAppendixD82603.html

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edge cities. Urban land use generally expands at the expense of agriculture as demand for housing grows. This brings about differences between land consumption in the centre and fringe of the urbanized area and create changes in land consumption rates through time. 2.2.3

Population and Density

In the year 2000, the three most populated countries of the world, China, India and US combined population accounted for approximately 42 percent of the world’s population but occupy only 15 percent of the world’s land area (Long, Rain and Ratcliffe, 2001). The rough measure of this relationship is a simple population density measure, which is total land area divided by total population residing in the same area. When viewed separately, the three countries differ substantially on their level of population density. The U.S. population density was 28 persons per square kilometer, a level way below the world average. The population density in China was at 130 people per sq. km. even though vast arid areas in the western part of China are sparsely populated. India is one of the most densely populated countries of the world with 307 people per sq. km., eight times the average world population density. In 1998, the world’s population density was almost 40 persons per sq. km. (Long, Rain and Ratcliffe, 2001). Increasing densities has been a response to land scarcity and protection, the need for energy conservation (mainly the reduction of motorised travel) and an increasing number of households (resulting from falling household sizes in the developed world and population growth elsewhere). Proper densities for city dwellings can only be determined by how well the cities perform. On specific instances, density can also be expressed as number of dwellings per unit of land. There are benefits as well as costs derived from a concentration of people and activities in an area. In a way high density allows efficient utilization of land and assures maximum use of public investments including infrastructure, service and transport. But high-density schemes can also overload infrastructure and services putting an extra pressure on land and residential spaces, producing crowded and unsuitable environment for humans. In contrast, on the other extreme, low densities may increase per capita costs of land, infrastructure and service provision affecting the sustainability of human settlements making it hard for future generation to function normally. When a new legal development is planned, the issue of density is usually 12

addressed. For instance, ’low density with expensive services’ for high-income household. In case of informal settlement, densities maybe very high with narrow streets and little open space. Density as both numbers of dwellings per acre of land and as number of individuals per household is high. For satellite towns there is fluctuating density during working and non-working hours and weekends affecting the consumption of services and infrastructure.

2.3

Effects of Sprawl

There is a division between the place of sprawl (origin) and the location of its impact (destination). When sprawl takes place at the periphery of a certain locality it could have its direct or indirect impact on other parts of the same locality within its border or on a neighbouring community. Generally, there are two conflicting ideas about the consequences or effects of sprawl. While some argue that it is harmful and stress measures that should be taken to combat it, others support and even encourage it. As mentioned, the study presented here does not attempt to resolve the difference of opinion, but the attitude is with those who see sprawl as something harmful, are troubled by it and search for ways for healthier communities. 2.3.1

Positive Sides of Sprawl

Sprawl is not always seen as harmful. Some organizations and planners see sprawl as a sign of economic vitality and not as ecological threat. They claim that for countries like America with large land area, there are too vast farmlands and open spaces to worry about how much land is converted. They also stress the primary advantage of sprawl, which is decentralization of employment to different parts of a city. They argue that car culture enables people to commute shorter distances at any time and own bigger homes. In addition, it is not healthy for people to live in areas with increased densities and smaller meter square of space per individual ratios since this creates psychological and health problems. Therefore, their recommendation is for people to live in bigger plots with their own green spaces away from city centres and work areas.

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2.3.2

Negative Sides of Sprawl

All sprawl leads to loss of limited resource, which is land. Over the years, sprawl has directly contributed to the degradation and decline of natural habitats such as wetlands, woodlands and wildlife. It also reduces farmland and open spaces. Water use and energy consumption will be increased. Sprawl leads to land-use patterns which are unfavourable to the development of sustainable transport modes and hence, increase the use of private car that in turn result in increased trip lengths, congestion, increase in fuel consumption and air pollution. It is in general a threat to ecology. Even though automobile and truck engines have become far cleaner in recent decades, motor vehicle emissions are still the leading sources of air pollution. As homes and businesses spread further and further apart, local governments are forced to provide for widely spaced services and infrastructure leading to higher costs and increased tax burden. It is an economic theory that productivity is much more enhanced with dense development since ideas move quickly when people are in close proximity. But when jobs move to the suburbs, people follow them. This may reduce productivity in the city leading to social loss. In addition, critics charge that sprawl leads to regional imbalances, such as pulling jobs and people further away from poor communities, increasing inequality. Sprawl also creates segregation of rich and poor or social isolation in general. The problem lies not to the people who have moved to the suburbs but rather to the people who have been left behind. The low-income groups are abandoned in the downtown because they cannot afford car-based lifestyle. Role of transport technology can explain this social fragmentation. The much congested and deteriorated central towns end up being favorable places for crime and social unrest.

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Figure 2: Costs of Sprawl

2.4

Solutions Against Sprawl

Those who criticize sprawl, in general, dream about densely populated urban communities with plenty of green spaces, sharp distinctions between city and countryside, few cars, and lots of public transportation. In spite of the fact that the patterns of sprawl in developed and developing countries are very different, the solutions proposed are similar with a little bit of modification to fit into the context of the developing world since there are more prior needs to be addressed. For developing countries, the people living on the periphery of the city are mainly rural migrants who have come to the city in search of employment. In rural areas, where agriculture is most common, the activity often tends to be seasonal and therefore unreliable. The problem that needs to be addressed is, therefore, the creation of employment opportunities away from the major metropolitan areas. A number of small towns and cities that are closer to the hinterland could be developed as potential sources of employment for rural people. This would reduce the burden on larger cities and create an alternative source of work, thereby addressing the problems of 15

both unemployment and sprawl. Other solutions are; A. Brownfield redevelopment or the reuse of existing land within the city and concentrating growth Abandoned building sites such as old schools, industrial land and parking space may be reused providing alternatives to using virgin land outside of city limits. This attacks the problem of city sprawl encroaching on new land outside the city. The problem is that in most cases there are zoning policies that do not permit such redevelopment. Policies therefore have to be adjusted by providing incentives for developers to re-use land. Concentrating growth may be achieved through a variety of methods such as moving the concentration of population back towards the city centre and not pushing it outward, away from the core and by promoting the reuse of land within the cities. This is the same as increasing density in already existing developments and building upwards rather than spreading horizontally. B. Use of improved mass public transport systems Lack of well-developed mass transit system increases dependence on private means of transport. The advantages that are provided by private means of transport are highlighted by the fact that the mass transit system in most cities is non-existent or very poorly developed. While it is true that the automobile has led to the sub-urbanization of the wealthy, it is not clear what the solution to this problem should be. One approach might be to tax car or charge higher parking fees and push the rich back into cities. Municipalities and concerned bodies can also act on the problem by giving a lot of attention and allocating the necessary fund for developing mass public transport modes. Good transportation planning relies less on new highway construction - which encourages sprawl - and more on mass transit solutions, such as light rail and commuter trains. In addition, awareness should be increased among people on the benefits of using mass transport and through time make it a culture. Some European countries such as Stockholm are good examples of mass transport culture. C. Development and use of better and most efficient land use policies Communities can grow in an efficient manner by using existing infrastructure, or by building away from natural wildlife resources. For these development policies can be targeted more towards an already urbanized area. D. Implement means to decrease or stop migration In addition to the push factors, the pull factors that attract migrants to cities other than job opportunities need to be addressed. Improving efficiency of land use or other proposed solutions would not be effective in the long run 16

if migration continues.

2.5

The Idea of Smart Growth

The term ’Smart Growth’ was coined to describe the response to the unchecked urban expansion in America during the past half century (Reis, 2002). A look at the census and other market trends shows that the decentralization of economic and residential life, not the renewal of core cities, remains the dominant growth pattern in the United States (Katz, 2002). Taking the seriousness of the situation, Smart Growth idea was to suggest an alternative to the problem of growth describing the application of sustainable development concept to land-use issues. The idea channels development to areas with existing infrastructure and consumes less land for roads, houses and commercial buildings. Smart Growth could mean smart management of resources in both growing and declining communities.9 The ultimate goals of Smart Growth to counteract sprawl are not that different from general solutions forwarded by planners and usually include (1) limiting outward expansion, (2) encouraging higher density development, (3) encouraging mixed-use zoning, (4) reducing travel by private vehicles, (5) revitalizing older areas and (6) preserving open space. More modern Smart Growth principles need to address housing opportunities for middle-class and low-income families in cities and close-in suburbs while creating more affordable housing near job centers. ’The denser the better’ is one of the chief ideas behind the initiative. Ensuring that local governments comply with these ideas and policies, American planners, organizations and groups claim that they were able to control sprawl in some states and proved that Smart Growth is working. For example, the Oregon state in the west of the country started taking anti-sprawl measures 30 years ago. As a result of laws passed in 1973, each of Oregon’s 240 cities is surrounded by an urban growth boundary (UGB), which shows where a city expects to grow10 . Urban services and infrastructures such as sewers were not to be extended beyond the urban growth boundary. The growth boundary can be modified only if the city complies with statewide planning goals and standards. Los Angeles is also well known for implementing the idea of this smarter, sustainable urban planning goal. The Smart Growth ideas 9 10

http://www.eqb.state.mn.us/SDI/smart.html www.ontarionature.org, 2001

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are also in use in other states and in some countries. The success of Smart Growth will ultimately depend on its adaptation to the unique political cultures, market realities and developmental trends. The great differences in regional growth patterns should be accounted for. Smart Growth can be an effective anti-sprawl measure in only one-way: by confining more and more people into existing urbanized areas.

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3 3.1

Global Urbanization Trends Urbanization and Urban Growth

Urbanization and urban growth are two different concepts often found in the literature of urban studies. The distinction should be noted that urbanization refers to proportion of the national population living in urban areas, and urban growth refers to an increase in urban population size, independent of rural population (United Nations Population Division, 2002). On the other hand, urbanization can be viewed and perceived to mean a lot of things depending on how it is used. It can be viewed as a characteristic of the population, as a particular kind of land use and land cover, as well as a characteristic of social and economic processes and interactions affecting both population and land (McIntyre et al, 2000). Physical scientists especially ecologists generally approach definitions of urbanization from the standpoint of the built environment. To them, density of buildings and impervious surfaces is as important as population (Long, Rain, and Ratcliffe, 2001). McIntyre et al (2000), however, noted that among ecologists, a wide variety of urban definitions have been used in research ranging from any human alteration of the landscape to more precise definitions based on density and specified land-use characteristics. In spite of these variations, urbanization trends are universal. Local factors can speed up or slow down the process, but it cannot be stopped. Urbanization is not necessarily bad, but the rapid change brings a lot of economic and social problems that are difficult to manage. Some agree that it is a consequence of economic development but it is also a requirement for economic development. Before 1850, no society could be described as predominantly urbanized (Marthe, 2001). While the intensive urbanization of most of the developed countries began within the past 150 years, it emerges late for developing countries. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, urbanization resulted from and contributed to industrialization. The result was the movement of labour force from demographically saturated countryside. In the two worlds of more developed and less developed countries, the degree and type of urbanization contrasts sharply. Unlike the developed world where the urbanization process was triggered by industrialization, the urbanization process in many developing countries is characterized by demographic changes such as, rapid natural population growth and rural-urban migration, which in turn stimulates urban growth. Poor African countries are not capable of managing 19

rapid growth. Planning, land allocation, infrastructure and services are inadequate to cope in such situations. As a result, an increasing part of the urban population live in unplanned, often illegal, shanty-towns with limited access to basic needs and with environmental conditions that threaten health. For a great number of individuals urbanization is perceived as "good" or at least "less bad". There must be valid reasons why hundreds and millions of people voluntarily move to the urban areas and stay there in spite of all difficulties. In such cases, urbanisation may be taking place due to ’push’ factors like environmental overload and degradation, resource scarcity and conflict in the rural areas rather than ’pull’ factors of development in the cities. Usually, large urban agglomerations do not necessarily experience fast population growth. In fact, some of the fastest growing cities have small populations and, as population size increases, the growth rate of a city’s population tends to decline. The trend towards concentration of population in larger urban settlements or big cities does not result in a marked decline of either the proportion or the number of persons living in smaller urban settlements. Growth rates may vary over time or between countries but urbanization is likely to continue until a large majority of the population live in urban areas.

3.2

Urbanization in the World: Trends and Figures

The world’s urban population will grow from 2.86 billion in 2000 to 4.98 billion by 2030, of which high-income countries will account for only 28 million out of the expected increase of 2.12 billion (see attached figure). The world’s annual urban growth rate is projected at 1.8 per cent in contrast to the rural growth rate of 0.1 per cent (State of the World Cities, UN Habitat, 2004/5). The urban growth rate of less developed regions reached 3.0 per cent per year in 1995- 2000 compared to a much lesser figure of 0.5 per cent in more developed regions. This growth rate will continue to be particularly rapid in the urban areas of less developed regions. In contrast, the world rural population is expected to remain nearly stable. Even within the less developed regions category there are marked differences in the level and pace of urbanization. Regionally, Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole are highly urbanized. Africa and Asia are considerably less urbanized and, consequently, are expected to experience rapid rates of urbanization from the 20

Figure 3: World’s Urban Population Growth

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year 2000 onwards. With 80 percent of the population being urban, Europe is the most urbanized continent (See Table below).

Figure 4: Selected Indicators for the Urban and Rural Population by Major Area, 1950-2030. Source: UN Population Division 2002. Lately, declining communications and transportation costs have quickened urban decentralization trends, accelerating the outward expansion of most of the world’s metropolitan regions. The increasing "foot looseness" of producer’s means that for the first time, population distribution is being shaped noticeably by independent effect of consumers’ preferences rather than dictated by locational decisions of firms (Easterlin, 1994). When percentage of 22

population living in urban areas do not balance with the distribution of total labor force between agricultural and non-agricultural occupations it may lead to over-urbanization.

3.3

Urbanization without Growth

Africa is the continent where the slowest economic growth is occurring while its urbanization is rapid. Some of the factors for Africa’s poor economic performance are external conditions like colonial rule, heavy dependence on small number of primary export items, crushing external debt (81% of GDP in Africa compared to 33% in East Asia)11 , internal politics conflicts and corruption, economic policies, demographic facts such as rapid population boom and social conditions like ethnic divisions and differences (Bloom and Sachs, 1998). The continent’s struggle for an economic improvement is further hindered by poor geographic landscape in the Sahara and some areas of the Sub-Sahara and relatively bad climate that favours disease. Agriculture in Africa depends on backward technology and is totally dependent on seasonal rainfall. When it does not rain there is drought and famine. When it rains too much there are floods and famine again. The very structure of African economy is the primary cause of its continual backwardness. Its people keep producing commodities that they do not need (they consume very little of the exportable items). The structure is more import-export oriented rather than production-oriented. The other main feature of African economy is the predominance of activities with people producing just enough to survive on their own. Fay and Opal (2000) in their World Bank research paper pointed out that sustained economic growth is always accompanied by urbanization. But in Africa, urbanization occurred without growth. They raised a question if Africa’s urbanization process is distorted, or if urbanization is not always accompanied by sustained growth. To find out why Africa’s urbanization is different from other countries they investigated determinants of urbanization across countries over 40 years. By relying on macroeconomic data and crosscountry comparisons, the authors found that urbanization levels are closely correlated with levels of income. A central hypothesis of their study was that individuals move (with varying degrees of ease) in response to economic 11

http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/case-examples/overviewafrica/regional-overview.html#Anchor-23240

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incentives and opportunities. If location incentives are distorted, so is growth (Fay and Opal, 2000). As shown in the table, while East Asia and Africa have had similar rates of urbanization (4-5% per annum) for the period 197095, GDP growth in East Asia accelerated by about 3.7% per annum while GDP declined by 0.66% per annum in sub-Saharan Africa. This implies that urbanization occurred without generating the required resources (public or private) and employment opportunities to accommodate the surge in urban population. Although it was rapid, Africa’s urbanization process appeared to follow a "normal" urbanization path until the mid-1970s. After about 1974, Africa diverged significantly from the world trend as it continued to urbanize more rapidly than other regions, even as its economy was collapsing, or at least stagnating.

Figure 5: World Urbanization and Income Growth, 1970-95 Source: World Development Indicators The notion that migrants return to rural areas when growth slows down does not hold - at least not in any systematic manner. Urbanization does not even noticeably slow down during economic downturns, implying that people continue to flock to cities even when economic growth is low. The prime determinant of whether urbanization increases rapidly or not is not related to whether income growth is positive or negative. The implication appears to be that Africa differs from the rest of the world more because of its poor growth performance than because of its urbanization process. With the given conditions, Africa is at a state of over-urbanization.

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3.4

Mega-cities of the World

As with other urban terms, the term mega-city also lacks a clear-cut, standard definition. The United Nations identifies a Mega-city as an urban agglomeration with a population that exceeds 8 million (United Nations Population Division, 2002) while other literatures use a figure of 10 million people. In the 1950s New York was the only city with a population of more than 10 million people. Two decades later, in the 1970s it was joined by others as the number increased to five. This number is expected to increase further to 23 cities in 2015 (see attached table). Some researches, however, state that the number of mega cities has already reached 23 in the year 2000 and will increase to 36 cities by the year 2015 (S. Jones, 1997). It is evident that most mega cities are in Asia. Bangkok, Beijing, Calcutta, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul, and Tokyo are just a few of the 20 or so mega cities in the Asian side of the globe. These cities are at the centre of the regions’ economic growth and are developing rapidly, not only in terms of population but also in terms of economic and industrial importance. The economic growth of these mega-cities has been boosted by national and regional location factors favouring large cities and complementing their comparative advantages in globalisation. Being engines of economic growth, mega cities perform a commanding influence over satellites or smaller cities. However, the bigger a city is the bigger its problems. Traffic, pollution and congestion are only a few of the problems to mention some. Efforts to reduce rural to urban migration to ease population pressure at the centres have not been successful resulting in an increasing concentration of urban growth in all large cities. Asia accounted for 62 percent of world population increase in the period 1980-1990. If the 20th century was the century of urban sprawl, the 21st century will be the century of mega-cities.

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Table 1: Emergence, History and Expectation of Mega Cities around the World (in millions). Source: UN Habitat 2000. 1950 1.New York 12.3

1975 2000 1.Tokyo 19.8 1.Tokyo 2.New 15.9 2.Mexico York City 3.Shanghai 11.9 3.Bombay 4.Mexico 11.2 4.Sao City Paulo 5.Sao 10.0 5.New Paulo York 6.Lagos 7.Los Angeles 8.Calcuta

2015 26.4 1.Tokyo 18.1 2.Bombay

26.4 26.1

18.1 18.1

26.1 23.2

16.6

3.Lagos 4.Dakarta

5.Sao 20.4 Paulo 13.4 6.Karachi 19.2 13.1 7.Mexico 19.2 City 12.9 8.New 17.4 York 9.Shanghai 12.9 9.Jakarta 17.3 10.Buenos 12.6 10.Kalcuta 17.3 Aires 11.Dhaka 12.3 11.Delhi 16.8 12.Karachi 11.8 12.Metro 14.8 Manila 13.Delhi 11.7 13.Shanghai 14.6 14.Jakarta 11.0 14.Los 14.1 Angeles 15.Osaka 11.0 15.Buenos 14.1 Aires 16.Metro 10.9 16.Cairo 13.8 Manila 17.Beijing 10.8 17.Istanbul 12.5 18.Rio de 10.6 18.Beijing 12.3 Janeiro 19.Cairo 10.6 19.Rio de 11.9 Janeiro 20.Osaka 11.0 21.Tianjin 10.7 22.Hyderabad10.5 23.Bangkok 10.1 26

4

Urban Sprawl in Different Context: Case Cities

Four case cities are selected from different continents for comparative analysis. Economically, two are in developing while the other two are in developed countries category. Depending on the context it is occurring in, different types of urban sprawl arise. But some common sprawl features such as form, cause and effect can be comparable although they cannot be considered generalizable.The cities are Beijing, Addis Ababa, Stockholm and Los Angles.

4.1 4.1.1

Beijing Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Chinese Context

With a population close to 1.3 billion, China is the most populous country in the world ( China Daily, July 2004 est.). China is still at a low urbanization level. The World Bank reported that 30 percent of the Chinese population was urban in 1995. From 1990 to 1995, the growth rates of medium size and mega-cities have increased faster than smaller cities. During this time, while urban population in cities increased by 21.6 percent, the urbanized area increased by 90.4 percent. This means that the growth rate of urbanized land was much faster than that of urban population, as summarized in the table below. Table 2: Growth of Urban Population and Urbanized Area in China Year 1990 1995 Change( in %) Urban Population 148 million 180 million +21, 6 Urban Area 11,608 sq. km. 22,100 sq. km. +90.4 Source: Based on China Statistical Yearbook 1991 to 1996. In the recent two decades, there are two contradictory phenomena in China’s urban development trend namely ’development zones’ and ’semiurbanized’ villages (Deng and Huang, 2003). First, Chinese local government

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set up a large number of ’development zones’ that are often large and discontinuous from cities. The second type of urban expansion is the increase in the number of urban population, especially migrant workers and temporary urban residents (also called ’floating population’) such as students, and accompanying ’illegal’ construction into rural villages on the urban fringe. In these villages, population growth is not accommodated by new development but rather by crowding of existing peasant houses and illegal construction. The term ’semi-urbanized villages’ or ’semi-urbanization’ is used to emphasize the fact that they are not fully urbanized in terms of physical environment and urban services even though most residents are engaged in non-agricultural activities and live an urban life style. Urban sprawl in the Chinese context is thus the disproportionate expansion of urbanized area. In addition, most studies on Chinese cities use the term urban sprawl to describe discontinuous or leapfrog development pattern at micro level. Tingwei Zhang for example identifies three main factors contributing to sprawl in China. These are the land market, local government’s willingness to lease land as the result of new tax revenue regulations and the decentralization process after China’s economic reforms. If urban sprawl is inefficient excess to the natural expansion of cities in the Developed world, Chinese style sprawl is unintended consequence of political manipulation of land development on the urban fringe (Deng and Huang, 2003). In the case of development zones, the intention of local governments might be to respond to their land market demand. In the semi-urbanized villages, their intention might be to control development, but urban population still sprawls out. Loss of thousands of kilometres of land to sprawl puts China in a difficult position to feed its huge population. The immediate action needed is not only to control excessive urban built-up area but also control land-use change from agricultural and forest to any other. 4.1.2

Selected Case City: Beijing

General overview Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China, located in Northern China Plain. Its resident population rose to 15.2 million in 2004, making it one of the top mega-cities of the world (Beijing Municipal Bureau). According to the old city plan made in 1993, the city predicted 14 million residents by 2040 (China Daily, 2004). However, the target figure was reached in 2003, 37 years earlier than expected. In addition to natural growth, floating pop28

ulation and administrative border expansion increased the city’s population figure in huge numbers. According to Gu and Shen (2002), the change of urban function from traditional, manufacturing base to center of service and the change in 1978 which marked Beijing as a major manufacturing base contributed in making the capital a socially polarized centre. These changes in the economic structure provide plenty of opportunities for both high and low-income jobs resulting in movement of people from rural to urban sectors. The process of labour migration in Beijing follows two stages (Gu and Shen, 2000). The first stage was the migration of urban residents (19491984). In this period, rural to urban migration was under the strict control of the government. With the absence of labour market, people were allocated to specific areas according to the needs of the state economic plan (Kesteloot, 1992). In this period, the number of people moving into Beijing was very small due to policies that favoured industrialization with limited urbanization. Rules were tight and there was hardly any voluntary migration. The second stage is the migration of rural peasants (1985-percent) as a result of three interrelated factors; • Overall economic growth and the new wave of urban construction that generated a big demand for labour, especially in the construction sector. • The inefficient state owned enterprises in Beijing which left a huge market for more competitive small private businesses which have thrived in the 1990s. • The tight migration that has been relaxed since the early 1980s. Farmers dominate the new wave of rural to urban migration to the capital. By 1998, the number of urban floating population accounted for about 30 percent of the total population of Beijing. 12 4.1.3

City Structure and Urbanization

Historically Beijing has originated from the southwest of Beijing plain and gradually expanded in the direction of northeast. At present, the city follows concentric and outward arrangement with the old centre. While its inner city area remained intact, the urban built-up area has increased rapidly in almost all directions and into urban fringes following both transport lines and as detached new development in the suburbs. 12

Population Situation, Beijing: www.cpirc.org.cn/en/30province1999-Beijing

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Figure 6: Rapid Urban Expansion of Beijing through the years 1949-1994 Source: Habitat International Before 1949, only the central part of Beijing was covered by urban development in an intact way (refer figure). Between 1949 and 1980, the urban area expanded further, mainly towards the north. The expansion during this period was both as concentric and detached development.Cores of development can be seen scattered away from the old center. In the period from 1980 to 1994, Beijing expanded even further out pushing the city limit. During this time, new developments dominate the northeastern part of the city and there was almost no significant growth in the south.This period was also the fastest expansion period for Beijing’s urbanization (Qi Lu, 1999)

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Table 3: Increase in Beijing Urban Built-up Area 1949-1996 Year Increase in Urban Built-up area

1949 62.5km2

1988 391km2

1996 488km2

Source:Beijing Statistical Bureau, 1999 4.1.4

The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl

With huge number of migrants from rural areas and additional natural population growth (even with one-child-per-couple policy), there has been constant demand for housing, especially in the low-income group. The restoration of private ownership of housing, commercialisation of urban public housing and the consequent emergence of housing markets made it possible for rural migrants to rent and purchase housing in cities (Gu, 1995). Although these do not accommodate all in need, the private housing sector provides for most of the un-met demand. For instance, in outer suburbs, developers build villas and quality housing which are the most expensive on the market. Local or foreign, richer, new inhabitants either rent or buy these. In the inner city, local residents often own family dwellings but such housing units are usually small, lack basic utilities and are of poor quality. Some local residents rent part of their unit to poorer migrants who need a location close to their workplace. In addition, houses in villages near the urban fringe owned by local farmers can be rented to rural migrants from other provinces because they are cheaper than other kinds of housing in Beijing. Beijing is the best example of the paradox posed by the co-existence of development zones and semi-urbanized villages in China. The two phenomenon are; 1: Development zones In the early 1990s there was an explosive boom of development zones planned by the local government in Chinese cities (Deng and Huang, 2003). Numerous development zones, be it economical or technological development zones were set up from big to small cities. Their planned density was not low, but their locations were often discontinuous from existing cities and concentrated in one direction. Although the first wave of development zones subsided in mid-1990s, they continue to pop up whenever there is some government initiative for economic development (Gu and Shen, 2002).

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2: Semi-urbanized villages As stated, most residents in semi-urbanized villages are migrants from the rural areas or people who need temporary residence such as students. These villages are neither urban nor rural. The villages appear to be distributed more evenly on all sides of the city. These are the two forms of urban sprawl that arise in China and specifically in Beijing. What makes the Chinese sprawl different from the rest of the world is the disproportionate conversion of farmland or arable land to urban uses. In addition, central city decline resulting from negative impacts of urban sprawl is not a Chinese phenomenon. Central cities are still booming in China, although statistics show that since 1982 they have been slowly losing their population due to the high price of housing (Zhou and Meng, 1998) While ’richer’ people in general prefer to live in suburban areas in developed world especially in the US, it is the ’poorer’ that have to move to fringe areas in Chinese cities. This is one of the unique features of Chinese version of urban sprawl. 4.1.5

Planning and Policies

In order to equip the city with excellent infrastructure, investment and good living condition while adapting the rapid socio-economic development and the increasing the scale of foreign investment in the capital, Beijing implemented a program of urban renewal and reconstruction for the inner city in 1990 (Gu and Shen, 2002). Besides slowing down population growth figures, the revised plan stresses the role of "satellite towns" to alleviate pressure on central areas. The city will build 11 ’new towns’ on its outskirts, among which, three towns - namely Tongzhou, Shunyi and Yizhuang in eastern Beijing - are the key places to where a large portion of population and industries will move. Public transit construction is a key point of the new plan so that private transport is discouraged. There are also policies and administrative orders that prohibit the change of agricultural and cultivated land to other uses. The government is investing a great deal of money for unmet office and housing space needs especially for the Olympic 2008 games by building vertically although there have been oppositions against the rapidly changing new skylines of Beijing replacing the unique, traditional Chinese architecture. The slum-like villages or ’forgotten corners’ that exist among the new structures and roads need still be renewed or removed. Other concerns of the city such as natural population growth, rural-urban migration 32

and unemployment are problems that still need to be regarded.

4.2 4.2.1

Addis Ababa Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Ethiopian Context

Ethiopia is the most populous country in the whole of Africa. Taking the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS, an estimate puts the country’s population figure close to 68 million (2004, The World Fact Book). As natural births are higher so are mortality rates due to famine, drought and diseases. The 1984 census report shows a 46.5% urban population increase over a 9year period starting in 1975 13 . Urban population growth in Ethiopia is estimated at 6%, a much higher figure compared to other African countries. High social problem still prevails in large cities. The country is one of the least urbanized areas in the Third World. Its economy almost entirely depends on agriculture although production and food provision is low due to bad weather conditions and lack of effective technology. Poverty prevents the country from using high tech and non-seasonal means of production. In addition, almost 80 percent of the population practice only agriculture and animal rearing as a means to support themselves. Another aspect of urbanization in Ethiopia is the wide range of regional differentials or polarization in the level of urbanization. Like most developing countries, serious rural to urban migration is a common phenomena. Tribal wars and conflicts are common phenomena driving people from their villages. Slums are emerging in different parts of cities, especially the capital, and are the only choices for the majority of the city dwellers that are poor. Additional population increase in bigger cities is accommodated by crowding of existing houses. Rather than new construction developments, existing houses are often extended or divided illegally so that they would be rented for migrants. The need for housing is not integrated with the need to prevent horizontal expansion and hence saving land. Formal and informal settlements are stretching out horizontally from the central capital in all directions. Land is ineffectively used, new developments are planned on virgin land usually leapfrogging from cores. Generally, sprawl and land misuse in Ethiopia is a result of population pressure (both from natural births and migration), poor land policies, lease 13

Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency

33

system and planning and regional imbalance. Action is therefore needed to provide for immediate needs of the population while trying for solutions to overcome mismanagement of land and further horizontal expansion with minimum financial expenditure. 4.2.2

Selected Case City: Addis Ababa

General overview Addis Ababa, with a population close to 3 million (Istanbul workshop,2003), is the capital city of Ethiopia. The city has grown from 700,000 people to today’s figure over the last 30 years. As in the case of many poor developing countries of the world, migration of peasants is the cause of rapid population growth and hence a large portion of the population belongs to low- income group or people just at a poverty line. Addis Ababa’s growth to a miliion-city figure status passed through two stages: The first wave was between 1967 and 1975 when rural to urban migration was at its peak (UN). This affected the social balance of the city as more people competed for jobs in all sectors. To make matters worse, the economy was devastated as all land becomes nationalized in 1975 (UN). The second growth was between 1975 and 1987.This time, even though the population continue to skyrocket, the rate of growth declined (UN). The flow of migrants from farms and villages to Addis Ababa was low because there was a reform program that provided economic incentives for peasants (UN). In addition, there were strict government restrictions on travel. Most of the population boom in Addis Ababa was hence, due to natural increase. After 1988, thousands of villagers and peasants started flocking back to the city when war intensified in the northern part of Ethiopia. Others still flee from different parts due to tribal wars, famine and poverty further increasing the urban population figure. The economy and land-use patterns of Addis Ababa are largely based on semi-subsistence agriculture and foresting.14 The city suffers from unequal share of services because of its primacy over other secondary big cities. For instance, its population is 13 times that of Dire Dawa, the second largest city (a population of only 254 thousand, Country Watch 2004 est.). In addition, a study on industry and activities revealed that 83percent of employments were located in Addis Ababa and its surroundings in 1984 (A G. Egziabher, 14

http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/agri.html

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1993). In spite of better job creation strategies and increasing manufacturing sectors and industries, there is still huge number of unemployed in the capital. Generally, the city faces unbalanced (uneven) growth and a series of challenges related to housing, water and sewerage, mobility, unemployment, service provision and limited integration with the rest of the regions in the country. 4.2.3

City Structure and Urbanization

Unlike many other African capitals, Addis Ababa’s founding, growth and development, is not rooted to colonization. Since its foundation on a mountainous plateau, the city centre has been developing haphazardly and linearly along its five regional outlets. Even though the city had a master plan drawn at different times by famous European planners such as Le Corbusier, the proposals were broad in scope and content and difficult to adapt to the city’s terrain. The inability of the master plan to function as an effective development calls for its frequent revision. By 1964 the most notable feature of agricultural zone surrounding the city was Eucalyptus forest. The forest belt used to provide both a limit to urban expansion and to commercial and recreational resource for the people of the city, which has been called ’Eucalyptopolis’. Urban agriculture, which can be defined as the practice of food production especially vegetables within a city boundary or on the immediate periphery of a city, is a common activity practiced by many residents of Addis Ababa. Plots of cultivated land can be found on any vacant land and on areas close to small rivers or streams within and immediately surrounding the city. The major land-use/cover changes that have taken place between 1987 and 1999 are summarized in the Table below. Urban built-up area increased significantly, whereas bare, undeveloped land decreased (Tadesse, T. D. Tsegaye, and T. L. Coleman, 2001). 4.2.4

The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl

The horizontal expansion of the city of Addis Ababa is mainly a result of housing problem. It is believed that about a quarter of housings built in Addis Ababa are informal. The housing shortage is pronounced in all income groups although it is more obvious for the majority, low-income category that accounts for 80% of the city’s population. The housing agency is try35

Table 4: Major Land Cover Change for Addis Ababa and Surrounding Area Class Name 1987(ha) 1999(ha) Changes In Percent Urban Built-up 3352 4687 1335 +28.5 Residential 11222 16583 5361 +32.3 Bare Land 5094 2963 -2131 -41.8 (1ha = 104 m2 ) Source: Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium ing, with its limited capacity, to address the problem of this specific group and focus mainly on the low-cost housing construction. With its low budget and lack of finance, the agency is barely able to provide adequate houses and services to the inhabitants and to the extension areas, thus discouraging housing construction and contributing to the expansion of slums. The mid and high-rise apartment structures are expensive to build and unaffordable. They can only house a very small percentage of high-income city dwellers. Some high-rise buildings still suffer from empty top floors. Where the government fail to provide housing, squatter settlements erected by migrants and the city’s poorest residents give solutions for shelter needs. Efforts to clear out slum areas in some parts of the city were met with opposition from different groups of people and residents. Most recently, differentiated ownership options such as condominium and housings for rent are introduced by the city administration. 10, 000 houses are being built in the city’s ten districts to combat the immediate housing problem (Ethiopian Reporter). It is also reported that the Addis Ababa Housing Development intends to build 150,000 - 200,000 houses by the end of its five-year project plan. Compared with the increase in the city’s population these could only carve small part of the problem. In spite of this, future growth in Addis Ababa unfortunately will be horizontal and not vertical. 4.2.5

Planning and Policies

Like urban centres in other less developed countries, Addis Ababa is trying to make conditions better for those who flock to the city’s informal settlements seeking employment and demand services. The municipal and national government does not have the time or the means for development schemes or 36

new towns. Instead, it can only try to supply each new settlement on the urban fringe with access to basic services. So far, the city administration has been preparing a strategic plan with the following vision15 : ’Addis Ababa will be a clean, green, safe and livable city, a vibrant commercial and industrial centre and the nation’s administrative and Africa’s diplomatic capital with improved access to municipal services, good governance, encouraged entrepreneurship and social harmony.’ There is also a plan to organize a polycentric hierarchical system of centres taking into account the trend in growth direction (east, southwest, and south) and locate these centres in strategic areas. Also in the agenda is the provision of adequate residential options for all income level and upgrade or improve the working, living environment and economic activity of key slum areas. The ring road network and its maximum utilization for cross country freight trucks is expected to bring about an ease in the city centres’ traffic while enhancing regional accessibility. In order to limit excessive horizontal expansion, vertical construction and densification would have been a good solution. But the lease system and land price make high-rise building system expensive. Even though condominium law came into being in the regulation, there is weakness in promoting and exercising it both by public and government bodies. The economic situation of the residents of Addis Ababa is also incapable of utilizing high-rise building either on rental basis or on building their own apartment anyway. Financial institutions could not gear this gap.

4.3 4.3.1

Stockholm Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the Swedish Context

Sweden is a highly urbanized country with its growth following a long-term historical trend that is accompanied by high productivity and great diversity. In the beginning of the 19th century, not more then 10 percent of the Swedish population lived in towns and Sweden was one of the least urbanized countries in Europe (Nilsson, L 1989). The ratio began to rise during the 1830s and 1840s. Recently, the total population has reached 8.9 million and the degree of urbanization is above 80 percent (UN Habitat) . Most agree that migration played a major role in Sweden’s urban growth process leaving much of the countryside depopulated. When migration de15

(Commision 5, Istanbul workshop)

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Table 5: Sweden’s Growth of Urban and Total Population 1990-2010 DEMOGRAPHY Total Population (millions) Urban Population (millions) Urbanization level (in %)

1990 8.6 7.1 83.1

2000 8.9l 7.4 83.1

2010 9.1 7.7 83.8

Source : UN Habitat creased and was replaced by natural increase, the intensity in urban growth fell (Arnstberg and Bergström, 2001). New developments are usually planned within existing urban areas taking social, physical or environmental impacts into consideration. The country is well-known for its conservation of green parks and public transport culture. If sprawl is defined as detached development from a developed core, then scholars such as Gunnar Isberg argue that there is no apparent leapfrog development or urban sprawl in Sweden. On his article entitled Reflections on the Swedish Planning Approach, (1998), Isberg argued that there is a distinct and noticeable ’line’ between where urban development ends and rural area begins. Another important observation is that geographical expansion has almost ceased since the period of growth during the 1970´s. Since then, the spatial growth of the built-up areas of Sweden - at all levels - has stagnated and only minor expansion has occurred from the spreading out of low density individually owned houses. It is becoming increasingly common to use summer cottages for longer periods during more of the year, while some are being converted into permanent residences (Arnstberg and Bergström, 2001). 4.3.2

Selected Case City: Stockholm

General overview Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, with a population of 1.6 million in 2004 (statistics Sweden), is recognized as one of the most naturally attractive, green and beautiful metropolitan areas in Europe. It was in 1945 that the number of the city’s inhabitants reached 1 million16 . Several of the leading transactional firms of Sweden have important production plants and offices in larger cities like Stockholm. High internal and 16

http://www.rtk.sll.se/publikationer/promemorior/2003/pm_3-2003.pdf

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external migration flows that respond to changes in labour market conditions explain the rapid increase of the city’s population (especially the last 10-15 years). Figures show that while the economy was in its downturn in the beginning of the 90’s a lot of migrants and inhabitants were unemployed. The economy picked up gradually and is now stabilizing. The population group with higher education also tends to migrate to big cities such as Stockholm where there are more opportunities. The city is unique in a way that it is built to adapt to changes and find effective ways to manage urban ecosystem services. It is also characterized by having a large proportion of its people travelling by public transport. Almost 95% of the inhabitants of the city live in dense settlements located at transport nodes. 4.3.3

City Structure and Urbanization

Like many European cities, Stockholm has a monocentric shape with nodes following transport lines. It has a ’star’ shape arrangement with railway stations radiating from an old city centre and green "wedges" in between. With time, as new suburbs pop up, they are connected radially with the centre through suburban trains or underground railways, complemented with cars and buses. Around railway and subway stations, the land is heavily exploited with high-rise buildings while efforts are being done to avoid overcrowding the city centre with cars. Land-use patterns have increased through the years, as more land was required for development (see attached figure). Stockholm’s landscape, which is mainly composed of plenty of water and islands, has effect on the physical enlargement as well as its regional planning. The Stockholm area is highly urbanized with different manufacturing and financial activities. Office buildings dominate the central part of the city while residential apartments are built as neighbourhoods not very far from the city core. 4.3.4

The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl

In order to handle mass migration, housing shortage and low standard of living in Stockholm, a solution was brought up during the 1960s.The ’Million Dwellings Programme17 was launched by the Swedish government with 17

In 1964 Ernst Michanek coined the phrase ’One million housing over ten years’. This largest scale housing policy in Swedish history received later the nickname ’Millionprogramme’. Franzén, Mats (1996). The objectives was attained with 1 005 578 detached

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Table 6: Land use, Stockholm Region 2003. Land Use Patterns Land area(in km2 ) Built area(yards,gardens included)(%) Trafic area (in %)

Stochkholm Region 6,490 11.7 2.1

Source: RUFS 2001

Figure 7: Settlement Development of the Stockholm from 1910 to 1999. Source: Regional Development Plan 2001 for Stockholm Region

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big housing estates and multi-family blocks in large residential areas outside the existing urban centres during a ten year period. These were highly criticized because of accessibility and social polarization problems. The everincreasing population in the Stockholm Region has still not been balanced by housing construction at nearly the same pace and there is great lack of affordable accommodation everywhere in the region. Sweden is well known for its highest number of household per individual. Single, sambo, divorced and living alone, married and childless, old and single...all fall into this category of people who need small individual flats or apartments. In addition, prices are soaring as the competition increases for areas nearer to central areas that are close to workplaces. Although the region has internationally well known higher education institutions, students cannot benefit from them because of the lack of student accommodations. There were instances where vacant office blocks were changed to residential apartments. Present construction level of dwellings is the lowest for over fifty years at a time where population growth is at it’s highest. Stockholm Regional Plan (RUFS 2001) program and proposal puts present and future demand for housing in figures. It states that depending on how rapidly the population increases, between 9,000 and 12,000 units will need to be built annually until the year 2015. During the 1990s almost 1,000 vacation cottages per year were converted to year-round residences. While decreasing the demand for housing with a fraction, this in some way has led to ’sprawling’ of the city and inefficient use of land. In general, it is difficult to say Stockholm has a process of common land-use sprawl. 4.3.5

Planning and Policies

Today’s Stockholm is very much a result of planning efforts and development strategies during the last century. In the beginning of the 1950’s a citywide comprehensive plan was made that lined out a strategy for the growth of the city (RUFS 2001). Each suburb was designed as a neighbourhood unit with social and commercial core, high density housing close to stations and lower density housing in the periphery together with self-built one-family homes. The Stockholm City Plan (ÖP-99) states to "Build the city inwards" (Ståhle, 2002). What planners are doing to combat space problems and at the same time save virgin land is to increase density in already developed houses and apartment blocks (Statistiska centralbyrån 1980).

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land and re-use former neglected sites. Former industrial sites become mixed residential-commercial neighbourhoods connected by tramways. Located on former industrial-use Brownfield site and initially intended as a location for the 2004 Summer Olympics, Hammarby Sjöstad18 that is being developed as one of Stockholm’s largest urban development projects, is a good, successful example. Designed for 20,000 inhabitants with mixed use environment, renewable energy sources, recycling and treatment plants, sufficient public transport means and recreational areas, it is the most environmental friendly urban development. This development is a good proof that urban growth is possible through alteration of land-uses with high citizen participation. Stockholm’s City Plan also contains ’enhancing the characteristic cityscape and saving the existing green structure’ as its main target. Polycentricity is one of the development schemes both within Stockholm and surrounding regions. Although figures are unavailable there is a condition that smaller communities surrounding Stockholm region can accommodate increased densities. With the provision of fast trains connecting these communities with the centre, people can have better choices of living in the outskirts while commuting to the city to work. By making the public transportation efficient, private use of car can be discouraged and pollution and time spent to commute minimized. Regional Planning and Urban Transportation (RTK) which is responsible for regional planning, overall traffic planning and regional development issues for the region is dealing with such a situation where it can promote growth while sustaining the city’s attractivity. Ecologically, the Stockholm regional plan is based on Agenda 21 (considering ecological effects and needs) and meant to be a strategic instrument to combine continual growth with long-term sustainable development. The regions success in growing with a sustainable manner is a good example for the rest of the world cities.

4.4 4.4.1

Los Angeles Overview of Urbanization and Sprawl in the US Context

With a population of 294 million (US Census Bureau estimate, 2004) the United States is the world’s most economically developed country. Most of America’s urban areas are still growing in population and extent. Large urban areas have developed where transportation routes connect with each 18

http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org

42

other. It is hardly possible to tell where one neighborhood ends and the other begin. In few instances, the growth has been so great and the size of core cities so large that major urban areas have merged and formed clusters of cities. History of US urbanization began in early 1800’s when industrial cities begin to appear and grow rapidly in the Northeast, near waterways. As railway, fuel and other technologies began to take hold, industrial cities became increasingly concentrated and congested that it was causing huge health problems resulting in more deaths than births in some cities. And hence, gradually cities begin to decentralize and both urbanization and population growth slowed down. Since the 1970’s central cities, while generally upgrading or improving, remain home to the nations’ very poor. Recently many central cities are reviving both in terms of population growth and investment. Table 7: US Urban and Rural Population Distribution Population (in mill.) 1960 Urban 125 Rural 55

1970 150 54

1980 167 59

1990 187 62

2000 222 59

Source: Demographia The decentralization of economic and residential life, not the renewal of core cities, remains the dominant growth pattern in the United States. One factor that is commonly attributed to development in United States is heavy reliance on automobiles for transportation. The government highly invests in highways and freeways encouraging the trend. Thus, American technical definition of sprawl is usually as ’low-density, automobile-dependent development beyond the edge of service and employment areas’. Most agree that the US urban sprawl is a cause of two related factors namely population increase and land-use decision that determine per capita land consumption. In some places, such as Los Angeles, Dallas, and Phoenix, virtually all of the sprawling was due to population growth. These areas are experiencing increases in land density19 while accommodating large amounts of population (Fulton, et. al., 2001). Yet in some other cities it is poor land-use policies 19

Number of people in square meter/mile/acre of land

43

that causes sprawl. In such cases, leapfrogging, less dense and corridor developments along transport lines (as in the case of New York) are dominant patters of sprawl. Even though population figures are still increasing, there is opposition and struggle to stop further outward growth and contain overurbanisation. 4.4.2

Selected Case City: Los Angeles, California

General overview Los Angeles, which is nicked as ’the Granddaddy of Sprawl’, is the second largest urbanized area in the US with 88 other cities incorporated within its boundaries. When ranked with land area it is the 6th largest urban area. It was in 1920’s that the city’s population hit a million figure. A July 2004 census estimate shows the city’s population at 3,8 million of which 41% (around 1.5 million) are foreign-born residents 20 . Los Angeles is the largest entry point for immigrants to the United States, with skilled and unskilled people from every nation. By 2000, the increase in the immigrant population accounted for 84.1 percent of the overall increase for the city. Net domestic migration and natural increase are also major contributors for rapid increase in the population. Soja (1989) argues that new types of urban areas like Los Angeles are the product of three trends: accelerated immigration, geographic dispersal of economic production, and a growing international division of labour. For many years, Los Angeles was seen as an exception to the usual physical and social organization of American cities. While it is big and spread over a large area, Los Angeles is more densely populated than most large areas in United States (Sastry, Pebley and Zonta, 2002). The reasons include small lot sizes, a sizeable stock of apartments and high dwelling densities among the large immigrant population. Activities such as agriculture, petroleum, motion pictures, aerospace, international trade, and tourism drive the economy of Los Angeles. The city also has important financial and manufacturing sectors as well as a fishing industry. 4.4.3

City Structure and Urbanization

Los Angeles is a coastal city situated within a valley and incorporates many different environmental zones. Large American cities like Chicago and New York grew gradually in concentric rings around densely populated central 20

City Fact Sheet, Los Angeles

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cores. By contrast, Los Angeles grew rapidly as developers purchased and build housing developments in tracts of land throughout the county (Fogelson, 1993). Los Angeles is also described as the prototypical example of a multi-centric city. The city is generally shaped by eighteenth-century European colonization, nineteenth-century U.S. territorial expansion, and twentieth-century migration. The city houses some of the world’s tallest buildings. But high degree of automobile ownership has resulted in some areas developing somewhat less densely. Table 8: Los Angeles Region Increase in Built Up Area Year 1990 Urbanized land area (sq. miles) 2,509 Source: Demographia

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2000 2,618

Figure 8: Los Angeles Region: Change in Urbanized Area, 1970-1990. Source: US Census Bureau.

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4.4.4

The Need for Housing and Urban Sprawl

With its beautiful, mild climate and natural scenery, Los Angeles’ millions of tourists and opportunity seeking immigrants are in constant need for accommodation although housing prices are high. Table 9: Los Angeles Population and Housing Figures 1970-1998 1970 Total Populaton (in millions) 2.8 Total Housing units (in millions) 1

1980 3 1.1

1990 3.5 1.3

1998 3.7 1.3

Source: Demographia Real estate builders and investors in Los Angeles cannot seem to build new homes fast enough even though housing prices are high. Around 1970, unlike most American Urbanized Areas, Los Angeles stopped further spreading out. That is, the land consumption per resident did not increase. In fact, the urban land per resident shrank by 8 percent. In a way the city was growing in a controlled way and density increased in both the core city and in the suburbs. Furthermore, by 1990, land consumption per Los Angeles resident dropped even more. That made Los Angeles the most densely populated Urbanized Area in America. No other urban area provided so little land per resident (0.11 acre/resident, www.sprawlcity.org). And hence the city was a model for others although there were indicators that the increased density had resulted in several major social frustrations, overcrowded schools, crime and congestion. Results also show that increasing the density in Los Angeles did not stop sprawl. Between 1970 and 1990, Los Angeles sprawled across an extra 394 square miles (252,160 acres). This was in addition to the 1,572 square miles it already occupied in 1970. 4.4.5

Planning and policies

American transportation policies generally support the expansion of road capacity at the fringe of metropolitan areas and beyond, enabling people and businesses to live miles from urban centers but still benefit from metropolitan life (Katz, 2002). A large sum of money is still being spent on building highways and freeways. There has been an effort to make people use public transport but history shows that people love their cars. Uncontrolled growth is 47

triggering an intense debate about growth around other states and the country. Elected officials from cities, inner suburbs and people in all category and walks of life are all realizing that uncoordinated suburban expansion brings needless costs. Growth agendas are now revolving around changing the state ’rules of development’ to slow decentralization, promote urban reinvestment and promote a new form of development that is mixed-use, transit-oriented and pedestrian friendly. According to the American Planning Association, new planning bills are introduced and approved. More governors are issuing orders on planning, smart growth and related topics. The 1973 enacted Land Conservation and Development Act to contain urban sprawl and preserve forests and farmland is being practiced in more states than before. The Act required that urban growth boundaries be drawn around all cities throughout the state. It also requires that all city, county, and metropolitan plans be consistent with state planning goals and authorizes the State Land Conservation and Development Commission to enforce compliance with the consistency requirement. Application of Smart Growth principles in some states brought about rewarding achievements and hence the support for Smart Growth reforms has increased markedly among governors and state legislatures (Katz, 2002) . Los Angeles is well known for implementing the idea of Smart Growth development policy. Lower Infrastructure Spending, better Land Use Reforms/Land Acquisition and, Growth Management are some of Smart Growth agenda being used. Other attractive, more compact forms of urban and suburban living are still being demonstrated.

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5

Analysis and Discussion

Features of a particular country or community substantially affect the degree of any costs or effects of sprawl. The case cities presented here can only provide one with a glimpse of how different causes and effects lead to landuse phenomena and hence to sprawling. They are not to be interpreted as recommending one type of development over another. Rather they are to serve as comparables for discussion and better understanding of the concept. A rich and detailed data with a careful yearly physical analysis of landform is needed in order to come up with generalized possible patterns or trends. Sprawl is more than an extended urban area and the failure to quantify the term will always leave one with a certain gap.

5.1

Patterns and Extent of Sprawl

A new development be it planned or unplanned could arise on vacant land or on land that was previously used for some other purpose. In most instances though, whenever the need arises, it is the outskirts of the city that provides for "unlimited" vacant land since inner cities are usually intact. As in the case of Beijing, some developments arise scattered here and there with no continuity or link between them, others like Addis Ababa and Los Angeles are formed as an extension (either radially in concentric manner or as a corridor linearly in few directions) from an already existing urban core. These are the two kinds of patterns of sprawl observed in the selected cities.

5.2

Causes

Different situations are observed to cause sprawl. In almost all cases, rise in population plays a major role as a main cause. In some of the cities (Addis Ababa and Beijing) natural births are the leading factors to a population boom other than rural-urban and international migration. Fulfilling the resource requirements of a growing population requires some form of land-use change Low density development, subsidization of infrastructure investment such as roads (specially in Los Angeles), poor land policies (Addis Ababa, Beijing) and generally inefficient land consumption can all cause sprawl from land-use point of view. The question lies on how land is altered.

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5.3

Effects

Sprawl in all form has its costs. In China, where the population is highest, land for food production is becoming scarce. In cities like Addis Ababa unlimited horizontal expansion is destroying ecology and having a pronounced effect on climate change. For Los Angeles which boasts of having the densest settlement, the density by itself is causing congestion and social problems. Low-density, leapfrogging developments cause high expenditure for infrastructure and service provision (some parts of Beijing and Los Angeles).

5.4

Policies

American policies that encourage use of private car lead to sprawling of cities. Other poor policies observed are building height limit (Addis Ababa) and new development zoning (Beijing). The Swedish planning strategy is by far the best in containing growth. But land for re-use may not always be available. In such cases, planning policies should give priority to environmental protection and sustainability of cities. The Smart Growth ideas incorporate useful growth and planning policies.

5.5

Comparison

For developing countries like China and Ethiopia high birthrates contribute to population pressure in addition to rural-urban migration. The flow of peasants from the countryside to cities is a headache for planners. In both countries, even though strict government rules were applied to regulate migration, people still tend to move to cities that provided them with work and better opportunities. In central parts of these cities, infrastructure and services are over-utilized, roads are narrow and congested, slums and illegal construction expanded. Where government failed to provide for housing needs in developing countries, slums and illegal settlements serve as a solution. In almost all cases population pressure is observed to be the main cause of urban sprawl. Where land-use decisions are vital, in economically poor Ethiopia horizontal expansions are the only means of growth that dominate. High-rise developments are still in their early stages. In developed countries, by increasing density and using land effectively they can easily accommodate growth. Los Angeles and Beijing’s skylines are marked by high-rise construc50

tion and not so much green space is available for recreation. Addis Ababa is flat and horizontally stretched while Stockholm is mixed with medium rise apartments and green wedges and parks in between neighborhoods. The Chinese urban sprawl is different by its disproportionate conversion of farm or arable land to urban uses. In addition, central city decline resulting from negative impacts of urban life as in the case of US is not a Chinese phenomenon. Private ownership and usage of cars is a typical sprawl phenomenon in US. Beijing is also facing congestion problems due to many cars in its street. In contrast, Stockholm has its large proportion of population using public transport. Los Angeles is a city that should address the issue of low-density development at the city periphery. While cities in developed countries are planned with effective transportation routes, those in developing countries develop in an unplanned and haphazard way. Expansions follow existing transport corridors in some cases while in others they just pop up detached from existing urbanized areas. While ’richer’ people in general prefer to live in suburban areas in developed world, it is the ’poorer’ that have to move to fringe areas in developing countries like China and Ethiopia. This is one of the most important differences between developed and developing country versions of sprawl.

5.6

Concluding Summary

Urban sprawl has been recognized as a problematic aspect of metropolitan growth and development in the world over. The growing concern about the issue is shared among planners, policy makers, environmentalists and people in general. Despite over 50 years of experience with this phenomenon, there is still no widely agreed upon definition of sprawl. With this thesis, the objectives have been 1) to better understand the concept of sprawl by reviewing and sharing relevant background information and views, 2) to describe the link between population and growth pressure and its effect in urban land-use change in developing and developed countries perspective 3) to investigate different causes and land use patterns that lead to urban sprawl and 4) to describe inter-connected social, physical, political factors and their effect on sprawl. The thesis has been structured in parts with theoretical framework focusing on urbanization and sprawl followed by a description of global urbanization trends, conditions for selected case cities for comparison and a final discussion. This thesis defines sprawl as a pattern of land-use or land cover 51

change in which the rate at which land is converted for development exceeds the population growth rate over a specified time period. As a pattern of land-use in an urbanized area, sprawl or sprawling exhibits low levels of some combination of eight distinct dimensions: density, continuity, concentration, compactness, centrality, nuclearity, diversity, and proximity. The social and economic consequences of sprawl include both positive and negative effects. The impact sprawl has upon environmental and natural resources, however, is predominantly harmful. Sprawl is increasingly becoming an issue that is associated with urbanization no matter where it takes place. Not many studies are done regarding sprawl in developing countries. Therefore, it is difficult to cross-relate available findings in globalized manner. But in general, developing countries are in a stage where their fertility rate is still higher while mortality rates are declining. In contrast, the developed world, especially Europe is faced with increase in ’old age’ population. The world population as a whole is growing in an alarming rate and taking a lot of space in doing so. The common causal factors that are considered responsible for urban sprawling are population and growth per capita land consumption (increase in the amount of urban land a resident uses). As the degree and form of urban sprawl are different for different countries, so are indicators. In developing countries where the percentage of unemployed especially in rural areas is high, people flock in great numbers in search of job and better living conditions. This leads to crowding of cities well beyond city limits since there is no space for them to live. Central cores become ideal places for slums, congestion and crime. In developed countries where incomes are much higher, people prefer to live away from centers in the quieter much greener outskirts of cities. Their income also makes it possible for them to own private cars and live in bigger accommodation units. In low-density areas, the car dominates the choice of transport. While the poor are forced to ’live in’ the rich prefer to ’move out’ of city centers. This is regarded as the main difference between sprawl in developing and developed countries context. Excessive land consumption, low densities in comparison to old city cores, fragmented open space, wide gaps between developments, scattered appearance and lack of public space typically characterize sprawl. Use of mass transit system, densifying settlement and efficient use of land or ’growing smartly’ are some general solutions to tackle the problem of sprawl. Solutions should have to be modified for the context in which they are to be applied. Provision of employment and economic growth, for instance, can help curb the problem of sprawl and even work more effectively 52

in developing countries. The case cities presented in this paper only give a glimpse of how one country’s cause, effect and urban planning policy differs from the other. Without understanding the broader issues that are the underlying problems, it is difficult to provide for long term solutions to the issue of sprawl. Therefore it is difficult to cross-relate available findings and make generalized conclusions. Most countries are moving along an unsustainable consumption path. While developing, the rural to urban land ratio is decreasing leaving less and less land for food production. The problem of urban sprawl is, therefore, an observable fact that needs action, now.

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John F. Long, David R. Rain, and Michael R. Ratcliffe, 2001. Population Density vs. Urban Population: Comparative GIS Studies in China, India, and the United States, Population Division, US. Census Bureau Marianne Fay and Charlotte Opal, 1999. Urbanization without Growth: A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2412 Natural Evolution, Flight from Blight, and the Fiscalization of Land Use, Sacramento, CA: California Senate Office of Research. URL: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr/WassmerEdwardsCausesSprawl. pdf Neha Menon, 2004. Urban Sprawl: A developing country approach, e-journal of The World Student Community for Sustainable Development, browsed Nov 2004 URL: http://www.wscsd.org/ejournal/article.php3id_article=113 Richard A. Easterlin, 1994. Twentieth Century American Population Growth, The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Vol.III Robert W. Wassmer, 2004. Causes of Urban Sprawl in the United States, browsed Nov 2004 URL: http://www1.pacific.edu/cop/economics/colloquium/wassmer.doc The Prospectus for World Urbanization and Rural Growth, 2001. United Nations Population Division World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision, 13-34. URL: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2001/WUP2001_ CH2.pdf Additional Online Resources: Center for Immigration Studies URL: http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/SprawlAppendixD82603.html URL: http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop URL: http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/ Sprawl City, US Bureau of Census Data on Urbanized Areas. URL: http://www.sprawlcity.org Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050, US Census Bureau. URL: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldpop.html 55

UNFPA, State of World Population 1999. URL: http://www.unfpa.org/swp/1999/chapter2d.htm CHINA Beijing International Homepage. URL:http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/default.htm Beijing to keep population within 18 million by 2020, an article on China Daily (2004-11-08) URL:http://english.sina.com/china/1/2004/1108/9659.html Chaolin Gu, Jianafa Shen, 2003. Transformation of urban socio-spatial structure in socialist Market economies: the case of Beijing, Habitat International 27, 107-122 F. Frederic Deng, Youqin Huang, 2003. Uneven land reform and urban sprawl in China: the case of Beijing, Progress in Planning 61, 211-236 Qi LU, 1999. Historical Perspectives of Land-use and Land-cover Changes in Beijing, 1999 NIES Workshop paper Tingwei Zhang-GR, 2001. Land market forces and government?s role in sprawl: The case of China, Cities, Volume 17, No. 2, 123-135 Yingxin Zhu, Borrong Lin, 2003. Sustainable Housing and Urban Construction in China. Energy and Buildings 36, 1287- 1297 ETHIOPIA 10,000 Houses are being Built in Addis Ababa, newspaper article reported by Getachew Nigatu, Ethiopian reporter, posted online 2004-12-05 URL:http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/displayamharic.php?id=2266 Addis Ababa City Government Home Page. URL: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/ Agriculture in Addis Ababa, browsed Oct 2004 URL: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/agri.html Axumite G. Egziabher, 1993. Urban Farming, Cooperatives, and the Urban Poor in Addis Ababa, Cities feeding people, Chapter 5. Browsed Oct 2004. URL: http://web.idrc.ca/es/ev-42937-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html Baymot Tsegaye, Nov 2004. The Role of High-rise building systems in the prevention of Addis Ababa’s Horizontal Expansion, MSc paper 56

City Floats Auction for Over 42 Million Birr Worth Plots of Land, newspaper article reported by Melaku Demissie, Ethiopian Reporter (2004-04-07) URL: http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/displayenglish.php?id=812 City Government Vows to Activate Land Lease Implementation, newspaper article reported by Melaku Demissie, Ethiopian Reporter(2004-09-15) URL: www.ethiopianreporter.com/displayenglish.php?id=1368 City to Distribute Plots of Land for Building 40,000 Houses, newspaper article reported by Fitsum W/Giorgis, Ethiopian reporter, 2004-09-13 URL: http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/displayenglish.php?id=1824 Ethiopia’s Population Boom, Cities, Newsfile posted 2003-03-31. URL: www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=1916 Housing Conditions and Strategies for Growth Management, browsed Oct 2004. URL: www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/housing.html Istanbul workshop, Commission 5: Metropolitan Performance Measurement, 2003. Browsed Oct 2004 URL: http://www.metropolis.org/Data/Files/109_Minutes_-_Istanbul_workshop_ 29-30_Sept.doc Rafiq M, Hailemariam A., 1987. Some structural aspects of urbanization in Ethiopia. Genus 183-204. URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ uids=12143695&dopt=Citation Postwar Urbanization of Addis Ababa, browsed Oct 2004. URL: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/urban.html W. Tadesse, T. D. Tsegaye, and T. L. Coleman, 2004. Land Use/Cover Change Detection of the City of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia using GIS, 2001. Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Volume 1, 462-464. SWEDEN Alexander Ståhle, 2002. Urban Planning for a Quality Dense Green Structure, browsed Jan 2005. URL: http://www.map21ltd.com/COSTC11/sociotop.htm Karl-Olov Arnstberg & Inger Bergström. URBS PANDENS. URL: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/urbs/stockh.htm 57

Mats Pemer, 2001. Developing a sustainable compact city in Stockholm, Sweden, UN Habitat, Istanbul 5. URL: http://www.unhabitat.org/istanbul+5/7-Sweden.PDF Munich - Stockholm Comparison of the two regions? Planning systems and contents, Regional Planning Association Munich & Regional Planning and Urban Transportation Stockholm County Council, 2003, RTK Publication, Promemoria No.3 Regional Studies, December 1, 2001. Journal of The Regional Studies Association, Carfax Publishing, Issue: Volume 35, Number 9. Regional Development Plan 2001 for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2001, RTK publication. Susanne Kratochwil, "European Images around Sprawl(ing)", Research paper browsed Jan 2005. URL: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/cityfutures/papers/webpapers/cityfuturespapers/ session4_4/4_4europeanimages.pdf USA 1998 Sierra Club Sprawl Report: 30 Most Sprawl-Threatened Cities. URL: www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report98/angeles.asp Lauren M. Scott, William J. Lloyd, Employment Patterns in Greater Los Angeles between 1980-1990. Browsed Feb 2005. URL: http://www.spatial.maine.edu/ucgis/testproc/scott_l/scott.html Los Angeles URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles\%2C_California Los Angeles Growth Map. (Jan 2005). URL: http://www.metroresearch.org/maps/national_report/LA_ua.pdf Narayan Sastry, Anne R. Pebley, Michela Zonta, 2004. Neighbourhood Definitions and the Spatial Dimension of Daily Life in Los Angeles, research paper browsed on Feb 2005 URL: http://web.mit.edu/cis/www/migration/seminars/montgomery_wp.pdf Peter Gordon and Harry W. Richardson, 1997. Why Sprawl Is Good, research article browsed Dec 2004. URL: http://www.cascadepolicy.org/growth/gordon.htm

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Portland: Far Less Dense than Los Angeles, Sprawling Like Phoenix. Browsed Jan 2005. URL: http://www.demographia.com/db-porla.htm Russ Lopez, H. Patricia Hynes, 2003. Sprawl in the 1990s, Measurement, Distribution, and Trends, Urban Affairs Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, 325-355 Study Finds Population Growth at Heart of Urban Sprawl, 2001. Immigration report, browsed Dec 2004. URL: http://www.fairus.org/Research/Research.cfm?ID=1849&c=54

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