- Spread City - Learning to Live With It    153 kb by    Byrnes, Terence | tbyrnes@byrnes.com.au    Short Outline Urban sprawl is unique to our times but only because of its scale not its causes. The success of our urban futures will rely upon adaptation to these root causes but not lamenting as a failure the inevitability of the phenomenon. Abstract SPREAD CITY – LEARNING TO LIVE WITH IT Urban Sprawl is characterized by its physical attributes and therefore denigrated because it appears visually untidy, inefficient and opportunistic and therefore condemned as a fundamentally unintended response to the pressures of urban growth. The paper explores some of the realities underlying these observations and identifies how appearances can be deceiving. In fact when considered over time the apparent expediency of the results achieved might be better characterized by some features that actually contribute economically to urban sustainability. Urban sprawl is an international phenomenon that takes many different forms and is not limited to the urban maturity of the cities from which it is spawned. But all forms manifest a creative response to the factors that cause them. Solving ‘the problem’ therefore means firstly identify those causes, many of which are not likely to change. In recognition that many of those causes cannot be changed, the conclusion drawn is that we now need to not only devise methods of adaptation to the phenomenon but also recognize its legitimacy. Thereby we will derive a more fruitful form of solution than just lamenting its coming into being as a basically unintended outcome. The paper incorporates analysis based upon the Australian experience exemplified in particular by Sydney and its hinterland. In order to compare certain fundamental observations designed to achieve not only a wider understanding but also a wider application to this world-wide phenomenon. Keywords Urban Sprawl, realities, adaptation and acceptance Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2008: Urban Growth without Sprawl   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper