A prophetic film from 1959 offers a diagnosis of the causes and emerging challenges associated with what came to be known as urban sprawl.
Posted this week as part of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) celebration of its 75th year, and produced in association with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), this fascinating film identifies potential solutions such as planned unit development, cluster zoning, town homes, design innovations, and flexible zoning controls.
Alas, however, "How wisely or wastefully we use the heritage of our land is not solely the responsibility of the planner, the developer, the builder, the community official. It is the responsibility of all of us who are the American community."
This film is also available on Planetizen's DVD The Story of Sprawl with commentary from John Norquist of the Congress for the New Urbanism and Jacky Grimshaw of Center for Neighborhood Technology.
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research