concepts
type: Collection
type: ConceptGroup
member: urban sprawl

health risks and health behaviors
type: Concept
narrower: urban sprawl

housing and urbanization
type: Concept
narrower: urban sprawl

social science perspectives on epidemiology
type: Concept
narrower: urban sprawl

society
type: Concept
narrower: urban sprawl

urban geography
type: Concept
narrower: urban sprawl

urban sprawl
type: Concept
broader: urban geography
broader: society
broader: social science perspectives on epidemiology
broader: housing and urbanization
broader: health risks and health behaviors
definition: Urban sprawl, perhaps more accurately suburban sprawl, is the term for rapidly growing residential and commercial land development across a previously rural landscape. Commentators vary in more precise definitions, but there is general consensus that sprawl is typically characterized by the following attributes: relatively low densities of buildings and population, compared to traditional cities; segregation of land uses into tracts of homes, shops, and workplaces, which are separated from each other, sometimes by great distances; a network of roads with relatively large blocks and limited access, compared to traditional cities; and a lack of well-defined centers, such as downtowns. [Source: Encyclopedia of American Urban History; Urban Sprawl]