ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the political factors that motivate local jurisdictions in Florida to institute urban growth boundaries. Florida counties can effectively create urban growth boundaries by establishing urban service areas beyond which water, sewer, and other municipal services not be extended, as in Leon County, or by setting aside land in rural preservation areas, as in Palm Beach County. While many factors are related to the existence of urban growth boundaries in Florida counties, when all variables are included, the only factor that appears to have any significant robust impact is the county's level of income. Urban growth boundaries are a product of political decision-making, and those jurisdictions that implement them are the ones with the highest per capita incomes, suggesting that urban growth boundaries are established to further the interests of upper-income Floridians. If policies are created to the economic interests of constituents, then higher-income areas would be more likely to have urban growth boundaries.
