ABSTRACT
For an increasing number of urban professionals in the United States, sprawl is a serious economic and environmental problem that society can no longer afford. This chapter discusses the sociospatial perspective to study environmental issues that result from, and create problems for, the expansion of urban and suburban settlement space. The recognition that sprawl is a major environmental problem has its own social history. In the 1950s, it was suburbia, rather than sprawl, that drew the ire of critics. Elements of the environmental fabric such as streets, pedestrian pathways, automobile corridors, and housing complexes can be placed in harmony with one another to facilitate the movement of people and vehicular traffic throughout the constructed space. In addition, urban and metropolitan governments have sought to incorporate sound environmental principles into future plans. Societies around the globe have always put developmental desires above environmental concerns.
