Influence of State Planning Environments on Urban Sprawl

This study evaluates the impact of state planning environments on urban sprawl over a 20-year period. Leveraging the recent state planning policy evaluation by APA, we employed structural equation modeling to investigate the complex pathways influencing urban sprawl. Key mediating variables include urban population growth, expansion of developed areas, and changes in natural resource areas, while controlling shifts in service-sector employment. Our findings suggest that state-level planning significantly influences urban density and reduces urban sprawl. Thus, rather than relying only on special sprawl control tools, whose adoption and implementation are often politically contentious, communities could use a slew of common land use planning tools, supported by a strong state planning mandate. Stronger state planning can amplify the effectiveness of common planning tools and, support targeted instruments such as urban growth boundaries; this portfolio approach is less divisive and more feasible in many contexts yet still accommodates stronger controls where warranted.