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ubran sprawl
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“What Will it Take to Halt Sprawl” Article By: Molly O'Meara Sheehan The article What Will it Take to Halt Sprawl deals with three cities in different parts of the world that have had problems with urban sprawl in their societies. The three cities are Washington D.C. of the USA, Santiago in Chile, and Prague in the Czech Republic. They all come from very different backgrounds and have different situations which their people live daily life. The article tries to raise the awareness of the problems that urbanization can cause to the environment and to the people who live in it. The three cities that were focused on in this article are ones that can make a difference in our world. Basically, personal examples of national capital cities can cause a change in the way the rest of the world lives. The United States as well as Washington leads the world in sprawling development. In the early to mid 1900’s Washington’s population boomed significantly as it built it up to over 1 million then to over 2 million people. As the population built up, the metropolitan area grew even faster. The National Interstate and Defense Highway System Act of 1956 launched highway building across the country with the goal of travel between cities, which resulted in more paved roads in between cities. Also because of the U.S. push for more affordable housing it too spread out the cities development. Washington’s first attempt to limit the city’s expansion was in 1960, when they wanted a regional transportation system of railways. They wanted a combination of rail and roads, but it took forever for the metro underground to be built. As a result all the basic structure of roads had all ready been built. Until 2000, the metropolitan population rose to nearly 5 million people, and the amount of land grew to more than 2,500 square kilometers. Washington’s difficulties in stopping sprawl starts with its lack of regional cooperation. It is between Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. The individual counties must compete for the limited funds. In an effort to shift people from cars to transit, D.C. council passed a $1 per day parking fee in 1994, but after Congress threatened to veto it, the city decided not to enforce it. The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments require all U.S. metropolitan areas to meet standards for air quality or risk losing federal transportation funds. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act made it easier for regions to use federal funds for transit, or bicycles.
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