7th Grade GEOGRAPHY – Urban Sprawl in North America: Where Will It End?

Urban sprawl is not new to North America.  However, people in this region are now considering some of its consequences and potential solutions.  The 7th graders in Mrs. Collyer’s GEOGRAPHY class were assigned one of the following roles: Planning Commissioner, Smart Growth Advocate, Suburban Housing Developer, Environmentalist, or Citizen for Affordable Housing. Students then discussed within their INTEREST GROUP how to deal with urban sprawl in Portland, Toronto, and Atlanta. Groups suggested the following:

• POLICY #2 for Portland: To create firm boundaries around the city.  Once this was done, no new development was allowed outside these boundaries 
• POLICY #3 for Toronto:  To allow a lot of growth in part of the city while limiting it in the rest.
• POLICY #2 for Atlanta: To limit sprawl in some areas while requiring mixed-use development in others.  Over time, this option could reduce car travel and air pollution.