THE SEQUENTIAL APPROACH -A MONOGRAPH b)
The Urban Sprawl
One distinct phenomenon is the urban growth or sprawl which is marked by haphazard expansion of urban areas and city limits. Urban sprawl had become the trend in most towns. The old town areas were left out and outpaced by developments at its outskirts and around the centres.
With the advancement of highways and rapid train commuter services, more and more people prefer to stay away from city centres and would rather commute to work daily. However, this brought forth other problems like urban decays, Brownfield’s, abandoned developments, slow development, little retail businesses and uneconomic use of valuable town lands. Downtown areas soon found themselves deserted at nights, crimes and social ills and activities became more rampant. Aesthetically, the image of the old town became ugly and environmentally unkempt.
Other negative features of urban sprawl include sluggish economic activities,
scattered
developments, low densities and uneconomic use of urban lands. Urban
sprawl
extension
of
also
requires
roads
and
transportation and phenomenon of commuting population.
Inner City Outer City Peripheral Area
Figure 2.2 Penang City Boundary (a)
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
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