Thompson as narrowly channelled movement speeds movement through more capital intensive transportation systems, this further increases occupational and consumer choice in space. Because mobility increases with income, in many ways, one gets the suggestion of a partial resolution to the problem posed in the opening pages. Strips of physically distinct middle-size cities, drawn together in time by very rapid (if sometimes expensive) transportation, might happily offer an escape from physical bigness to some and access to economic bigness to others. And with proper land-use control, open space for recreation can be preserved nearby, per-pendicular to the strip. By comparison, small, scattered towns gain closer open space but suffer thinner local labor markets, and large circular cities mass jobs and shops but lose access to the countryside. Strips of cities may not be all that bad. Low Density Urbanization A third spatial dimension of American urbanization and one that seems destined to become a major policy focus is the steady conversion of high-density agricultural land into low-density urbanized regions, ranging from the more heavily populated Piedmont Crescent of the Carolinas to the less populated delta of Eastern Arkansas. The Piedmont population, in aggregate, rivals that of the Atlanta city-region, but it is still an open question as to whether its loose-knit form can generate as much developmental power as is characteristic of that more classic urban form. The Piedmont has made a relatively successful transition from primary 27 May 1971

DOI link for Thompson as narrowly channelled movement speeds movement through more capital intensive transportation systems, this further increases occupational and consumer choice in space. Because mobility increases with income, in many ways, one gets the suggestion of a partial resolution to the problem posed in the opening pages. Strips of physically distinct middle-size cities, drawn together in time by very rapid (if sometimes expensive) transportation, might happily offer an escape from physical bigness to some and access to economic bigness to others. And with proper land-use control, open space for recreation can be preserved nearby, per-pendicular to the strip. By comparison, small, scattered towns gain closer open space but suffer thinner local labor markets, and large circular cities mass jobs and shops but lose access to the countryside. Strips of cities may not be all that bad. Low Density Urbanization A third spatial dimension of American urbanization and one that seems destined to become a major policy focus is the steady conversion of high-density agricultural land into low-density urbanized regions, ranging from the more heavily populated Piedmont Crescent of the Carolinas to the less populated delta of Eastern Arkansas. The Piedmont population, in aggregate, rivals that of the Atlanta city-region, but it is still an open question as to whether its loose-knit form can generate as much developmental power as is characteristic of that more classic urban form. The Piedmont has made a relatively successful transition from primary 27 May 1971

Thompson as narrowly channelled movement speeds movement through more capital intensive transportation systems, this further increases occupational and consumer choice in space. Because mobility increases with income, in many ways, one gets the suggestion of a partial resolution to the problem posed in the opening pages. Strips of physically distinct middle-size cities, drawn together in time by very rapid (if sometimes expensive) transportation, might happily offer an escape from physical bigness to some and access to economic bigness to others. And with proper land-use control, open space for recreation can be preserved nearby, per-pendicular to the strip. By comparison, small, scattered towns gain closer open space but suffer thinner local labor markets, and large circular cities mass jobs and shops but lose access to the countryside. Strips of cities may not be all that bad. Low Density Urbanization A third spatial dimension of American urbanization and one that seems destined to become a major policy focus is the steady conversion of high-density agricultural land into low-density urbanized regions, ranging from the more heavily populated Piedmont Crescent of the Carolinas to the less populated delta of Eastern Arkansas. The Piedmont population, in aggregate, rivals that of the Atlanta city-region, but it is still an open question as to whether its loose-knit form can generate as much developmental power as is characteristic of that more classic urban form. The Piedmont has made a relatively successful transition from primary 27 May 1971