ABSTRACT
Although typically associated with nineteenth-century industrialization, the seeds of sprawl in the United States were planted with the early institutionalization of strong individual property rights, the country’s frontier spirit, and the rise of profit-driven speculative development. With the building of streetcar lines, first and second ring suburbs were built around the historic centers of towns and cities, beginning their stretch into previously peripheral areas. The massive proliferation of sprawl, however, is largely associated with late industrialization, the widespread distribution of automobiles and freeways, the rise of zoning practices that emphasized low-density development, federal tax programs that provided economic incentives to both homebuyers and builders, and an ever-increasing volume and scale of production housing by corporate developers. Post-war production of tract housing exacerbated the speed and march of sprawl in historic developments such as Levittown, and continues across many parts of the world today. Although this reading focuses primarily on the United States, indicators of sprawl can be seen from Canada to Australia, South Africa to Southeast Asia.
