Determinants Of Urban Sprawl
It is observed that the rate, at which a particular area grows i.e. sprawls, is not uniform both in time and space. There are several factors, which governs the growth rate and are also responsible for the growth to continue in a particular direction. The “traffic nodes” are assumed to be the most important factor for the beginning of settlements, which continue to grow with the passage of time. Hence, transportation in general is the most important factors in governing the type and rate of growth of the urban areas. The impetus, generated due to the installation of any “industry” is the next important factor in the growth of the city. With the establishment of the industry, population is attracted from various directions in search of economic opportunities. Tertiary activities like services, commercial and other activities follow it, and the area grows larger. Here transportation gives the direction but the impact of industrialization is strong which generates the faster growth of the city, than transportation. As the area develops, commercial centres and services come up to specialize in particular functions. Hence, “commercial activity” becomes the third important factor after transportation and industry in influencing the type and direction of growth of urban areas. The physical factors of the region like rivers, plains, hills etc traditionally were the most important factors for determining the direction of growth of a city but in present era when technology has immensely improved, this factor are not considered to be a constraint, yet it has been placed as the fourth important factor which influences the growth of the city. By and large, the urban sprawl is characterized with the unlimited outward extension, low density residential and commercial settlements, leapfrog development, fragmentation of powers over land use among many small localities, dominance of transportation by private automotive vehicles, no centralized planning or control of land uses, widespread strip commercial development, great fiscal disparities among localities, segregation of types of land uses in different zones, reliance mainly on the trickle- down or filtering process to provide housing to low income household, limited meaningful consumer choices about where and how to live, segregates housing, stores and work place from one another and decrease social and civic interaction and support, short gain over long term public benefits. Raipur sprawl process is very rapid because of location of Durg and Bhillai Industrial area within 30 k.m, Industrial growth centre, city centre, airport and railway network.
The effect of sprawls may lead to loss of open space, increased cost of infrastructure, loss of rural character, farms and forest land, community character, urban population to non urban areas, urban decay and increase energy consumption, water pollution, air pollution increased time in traffic/ vehicle miles traveled, increased in house starts and building permits.