Urban Sprawl and Public Health:
Let’s Connect the Dots

I have to say that the first time I heard about an urban sprawl and public health connection, I was pretty skeptical. How about you?

But the research shows that we exercise when our community is walkable. So sprawl and health are at least possibly related, even if a dispersed development pattern obviously doesn't keep a motivated individual from seeking other exercise.

Basically I'd like to cling to the idea that all of us are individually responsible for our health, except for something that is genuinely a public health issue, such as a communicable disease we don't understand.

So in the spirit of pragmatism, we offer this piece about the connection between urban sprawl and public health.

How Are Urban Sprawl and Public Health Related?

Let's see how urban sprawl might lead to health issues. There are four arguments that have merit:

1. Urban sprawl leads to less exercise.

Two intertwined factors here are: (1) sprawl tends to lead to more driving instead of walking simply because distances to important destinations are greater, and (2) sprawling developments often are designed with cul-de-sacs and a curvilinear street pattern that makes a potential short walk into a long walk. In large metro areas, urban sprawl may be so severe that biking to work isn't a feasible option, even if the frequent problems of no safe bicycle facilities and no shower at work have been overcome to some extent.

Another factor about exercise is that with longer commutes to the workplace, there's simply less time for exercise. And certainly weekend recreational trips might well include a long walk or cycling trip, but that's impractical if the only way to access the new Super Duper Museum is by highway.

So while we all can find ways around our barriers to exercise, research definitely shows that the more convenient the exercise regimen, the more likely it is to be followed. So urban sprawl can contribute to public health concerns about fitness and obesity.

2. Urban sprawl and public health are related because the hectic lifestyle of driving everywhere promotes drive-through fast food usage.

The whole road-oriented and driving-centered culture makes the fast food drive-through lane seem to be the most natural convenience in the world. While healthy choices can be located at most fast food joints with some poking around, it's tough to make that healthy decision when (a) the odor of what you want but shouldn't have is wafting not so gently on the breeze, and (b) you plan to eat while you're driving, which pretty well rules out a salad. Why not fries instead? Easier to eat while driving.

3. Urban sprawl leads directly to the depopulation of the inner city and the inner ring suburbs, and leaves those with the lowest incomes located in those parts of the metro area.

The consequence of leaving a permanent underclass in our central city, and even sometimes of gentrifying downtown with young people in their twenties, is that true grocery stores are in short supply in inner city neighborhoods and even in the lower-income inner suburbs.

And when there's no grocery store, probably the only nearby source of food is the local gas station or convenience store. What can you buy there? Chips, cookies, ice cream, candy bars, soda, beer, cigarettes, doughnuts, and baloney.

To be fair, the food issue sometimes works the other way too. Certainly sprawling locations that attract the large superstores that include groceries may bring down the cost of good food. But that's hardly enough justification to atone for the abundance of junk food aimed at our inner cities and their children.

Think too of the mental health, substance abuse, and crime issues that proliferate where there is a concentration of poverty.

4. Urban sprawl and public health are related because of the air pollution issue.

Air pollution along our highways is a major proportion of the pollution in many cities today. And of course the more miles traveled, and the greater the percentage of driving that is of the high-polluting stop-and-go variety, the more severe this issue becomes. If you work in the central city, you may have convinced yourself that this isn't a problem because you don't see pollution on a daily basis. However, spend a week in the country and see how your lungs feel.

If vehicle miles traveled can be decreased, cleaner fuels can be used for transportation, and a more steady pace can be maintained because we have a redundant grid-like system of roads, we'll have less air pollution.

Recommendations

In sum, we need to begin seriously addressing the walkability of our communities. We can do this through building new developments on the new urbanist principle. We can close downtown Interstate highways, as did Portland and Chattanooga, and re-claim the historic street grid. We can forbid cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets, as Virginia is working toward. We can insist that every major transit stop be graced by a transit-oriented development. We can reform our zoning ordinances and encourage mixed-use development.

Then we can find the fortitude to shut down the sprawl machine by building such attractive alternatives that the demand for housing away from the action falls dramatically. The connection between urban sprawl and public health doesn't look like determinism to me, but it's certainly helpful to society at this point in our history to design towns and cities for successful health outcomes.

Won't you help?

Return from Urban Sprawl and Public Health
to Sprawl