Urbanization

Urbanization is the process of settlement of families in attractive rural settings in resort areas or near urban centers. Urbanization has profound effects on the ecology of a region and on its economy. "Urban sprawl" is a derogatory term used by opponents of urbanization especially for low-density urban development which they view as unsightly and undesirable.

As to the economy, the most striking immediate effect is a dramatic increase in rents, often pricing the local working class out of the market, including such functionaries as the local employees of the local municipalities and service providers such as supermarkets and schools. Dramatic increases in land values also encourage further development. Often mechanisms such as zoning or growth control or creation of an urban growth boundary attempt to mitigate such trends but often aggravate them as restricted supply results in inflated land and housing prices.

Urbanization has in the United States affected the Rocky Mountains in locations such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Telluride, Colorado, Taos, New Mexico, Douglas County, Colorado and Aspen, Colorado. The lake district of northern Minnesota has also been affected as has Vermont, the coast of Florida, and the barrier islands of North Carolina.

In the United Kingdom, two major examples of urbanization can be seen in Swindon, Wiltshire and Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. These two towns some of the fastest growth rates in Europe.

Urbanization often increases the potential for wildland fires as planting and irrigation of landscaping trees and plants occurs over the years. The devestating East Bay Hills Fire in Oakland, California and Berkeley, California in 1991 was one instance where lush vegetation in a suburban neighborhood in the wildland/urban intermix resulted in a serious fire.

External Links

• FEMA report on the East Bay Hills Fire

See gentrification, growth management, zoning, land use