What is Urban Sprawl?

Urban sprawling is another term that is being used for urbanization for long now. The process of urbanization has been known long for centuries now because that’s what made the earth’s every corner filled with people from all ethnicities. In literal meanings, Urban Sprawling is a process of migration and relocation from high crowded areas and cities to low crowded and underdeveloped areas or cities. That’s how underdeveloped areas were and are always turned into developed areas with residential and commercial buildings. City life is always charming, attractive and full of life but will all the charm and hustle-bustle comes greater expenses and living costs from eatables to wearables to taxes. People cherish the life of the big urban cities and areas until one day, they pack their baggage to live in calmer and bigger places with nature and peace around. That’s how Urbanization takes place. And that’s how it has always been.

Populated towns and cities harvest more pollution, traffic, crowded pedestrian tracks and fewer opportunities for employment for all the people. One has to be a great breadwinner for affording a life in a big city with all its perks. Whereas, costs and expenses are not the only reason people move to towns with fewer people. The other reasons could be the peace of mind, or the desire to live in bigger houses with terrace spaces and gardens or to live in a new town with less commercial communism and operations. Furthermore, people in big cities mostly rely on public transport for traveling means and walk on the street avenues for basic necessities. Contrary to that, urbanization makes people use their vehicles to travel to the nearest markets for all the necessary things.

To grasp the grassroots of the concept of Urbanization, let’s get into its causes and effects.

Causes of Urban Sprawl

Populated Areas

The big cities hold open invitation for people living in small towns to come and make a living for themselves. As much as it caters to the people, it really gets populated for the civilians to keep living their lives in the growing crowd.

Expense of Living

Affording a good life in a big city can be a piece of work and the huge taxes and property rates makes it nearly impossible for people to enjoy its perks.

Personal Preferences

People who have lived in the big cities for long crave for the peace and calm of nature and underdeveloped areas with less population. Also, it allows them to live in bigger customized houses.

Effects of Urban Sprawl

The individual and collective effects of urban sprawl are as follows.

Increased Traffic

People in cities spend less time behind the steering for their errands as compared to the people in suburban areas because walking down the avenues is not an option in underdeveloped areas. As a result, people will use their vehicles more and the air will get polluted along with traffic on roads.

Health Issues

People in cities are used to the hustle and bustle and their physical activities are more than the people living in suburban areas. People in the suburbs spend more time behind the steering and that leads to cardiac diseases or diabetes to be precise.

Environmental Hazards

Developing a whole underdeveloped town where nature has kept its hold for long is bound to be difficult and problematic. For instance, building infrastructure and residential buildings in a new town can hurt wildlife and animals. Along with the environment, urban sprawl threatens animal survival.

Impact on Mental Health

Moving from a populated big city to an area catering less people and lives, it can somewhat get problematic for the people who are relocating. Suburban people have fewer social activities and gatherings. For some time, it can affect a person’s mental health. For other people, it can also play a positive role giving them advantages and opportunities to enjoy their lives on their own with fewer people around.

Urban Sprawling has been existing for long and will probably keep existing. People who are moving across the regions to less polluted areas are mostly doing so over their personal desires and needs. On the other hand, it may not work for everyone but it keeps working for some!