Measuring Sprawl

Abstract

Sprawl is a popular subject in the urban literature, yet conceptualization and measurement have proven elusive. Projects which focus either on empirical advances in the quantification of urban form or related phenomena like travel behavior are rarely conversant, leading to a fundamental disconnect between operationalizing the concept and modeling its effects. Here, I build on previous work in developing a new index of sprawl and examine changes in urban morphology at the metropolitan level in the United States from 2000 to 2010. I then illustrate face validity by outlining suggestive relationships between the index and associated environmental and housing outcomes, while comparing it with other commonly used measures. I find that sprawl continues into the twenty-first century, and that this proposed measure demonstrates initial face validity with respect to key environmental and housing outcomes. I conclude with a discussion of the results and suggestions for future research.