Is there a solution to urban sprawl?

AS a city dweller, just thinking about heavy traffic whenever you want to go somewhere leaves you with a headache, yet this is the reality of many Malaysian urbanites. The root of this traffic congestion and many more issues is urban sprawl, a phenomenon that has been attracting much attention as it is gaining recognition as a global threat.

Urban sprawl includes poor repartition of land for industrial, housing and commercial use and inefficient transit systems within a city, causing developments to expand beyond city borders and rapidly engulf surrounding areas.

Unfortunately, it is, more often than not, a disorganised affair – think haphazard roads, disorganised water pipes, tangles of electric cables and an unhealthy dependency on cars to get around. In other words: messy town planning.

A prime example is the urban decay of Detroit in the United States. Because its infrastructure fell into disrepair over time, the city’s borders started bleeding outwards as a result of people moving into better, newer buildings at its peripheries. Ultimately, housing in the city centre became deserted as the urban sprawl occurred without a growth in population.

Its transit system was poorly thought out, which made intracity and intercity movement difficult. The city is also facing a shrinking population as residents find no incentive to stay, further deepening the city’s revenue drain.

Aside from the economic and environmental problems that urban sprawl causes, it also has a ripple effect on societal issues. Contrary to what you may think, lack of housing within the city is not the sole reason for the occurrence of urban sprawl.

Case in point: suburban areas are gaining ground in Malaysia even though the country is facing an oversupply of high-end properties in its city centres.

Urban sprawl can be attributed to a lack of adequate housing.

At both ends of the property market are high-income and lowincome earners. While the first group may choose to settle in suburbs purely for comfort, the second does so out of necessity. Evidently, the areas they settle in vary vastly – something that is reflected in how neighbourhoods and amenity provisions are divided.

The lack of residential options within one’s price range can force families to set up camp in the outskirts, which can lead to the formation of slums, whose residents face poor living conditions. This is the case for many dream chasers who moved to Mumbai from their rural hometowns in hopes of a better life but instead found themselves struggling in the slums on the edges of the city.

The solution to an urban sprawl-free city may be summed up in three words: work, live, play. If the housing, entertainment and commercial needs of a person can be fulfilled within reasonable distance, it would prompt her to live there.

An example of a densely populated city that has successfully adjusted to the needs of its growing population is Seoul, South Korea. The lively city has effectively tackled urban sprawl through its creation of high-density, interconnected neighbourhoods with efficient public transit systems. Furthermore, the city brands itself as a walkable city thanks to its urban pedestrian roads. It has also set in motion a long-term plan for the creation of a better city, a plan in which its citizens actively participate.

When talking about good town planning, the urban success story of Barcelona, Spain, jumps to mind. Barcelona’s large grid-like settlement is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also functional. The city was designed to make traffic circulation flow smoothly for both vehicles and pedestrians. It also caters for residents of all income levels. A pioneer in its time, the city is now referred to as an exemplary model from which many town planners draw inspiration. Suffice to say, the city is considered among the most liveable cities in the world.

Planning in the modern world calls for new thinking and constant innovation to design sustainable towns and reinvent existing ones. Good town planning is easier said than done, but its repercussions are so great that it is only logical to invest resources in more research into this problem, especially as each instance of urban sprawl differs from region to region and needs a tailored solution.