Report Outline
Rise of the Anti-Growth Movement
Changing Patterns of Urbanization
The Search for Urban Alternatives
Special Focus
Rise of the Anti-Growth Movement
Sudden Surge of Strong Opposition to Growth
Growth, like progress, has traditionally been a symbol of all that is right and good in America—the natural and welcome result of expanding population, advancing industry, booming construction, rising technology and a soaring economy. Bigger has always been better. The nation's rapid growth in the 20th century has been in metropolitan areas, where nearly 70 per cent of the people live, according to the 1970 census. But today there's trouble in growth country.
Urban growth is under attack by those who believe it is deteriorating the quality of life. They have formed what has come to be known as the “no-growth,” “zero growth” or “anti-growth” movement in America, although its members generally prefer the terms “slow growth,” “controlled growth” or “optimum growth” to connote rational planning instead of radical curbs. However described, they constitute an increasingly vocal, visible and powerful minority. And what's more, they are seemingly ubiquitous. Anti-growth forces have manned the barricades in nearly every state where increasing urban growth has caused problems for local residents—in other words, almost everywhere. “The conviction that urban growth does not take place the way it should has become one of the dominant beliefs of the age,” economist Lloyd Rodwin has said.
The new anti-growth trend is, at its roots, an environmental movement. It stems directly from the deep public concern for the quality of the environment which has become one of the major social phenomena of the 1970s. Deterioration of the environment in the wake of urban sprawl has generated some of the most vehement outcries for limits on urban growth. Outspoken critics of growth say that it is nearly always accompanied by air and water pollution, increased noise, loss of parks and open space, and general esthetic blight. |
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Jun. 03, 2022 |
The Future of the City |
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Jun. 04, 2021 |
Rebuilding America's Infrastructure |
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Aug. 21, 2020 |
Economic Clustering |
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Nov. 01, 2019 |
Caregiving Crunch |
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Jul. 27, 2012 |
Smart Cities |
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Apr. 09, 2010 |
Earthquake Threat |
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Apr. 2009 |
Rapid Urbanization |
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Jun. 23, 2006 |
Downtown Renaissance  |
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May 28, 2004 |
Smart Growth |
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Oct. 03, 1997 |
Urban Sprawl in the West |
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Mar. 21, 1997 |
Civic Renewal |
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Oct. 13, 1995 |
Revitalizing the Cities |
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Jun. 09, 1989 |
Not in My Back Yard! |
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Apr. 28, 1989 |
Do Enterprise Zones Work? |
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Nov. 22, 1985 |
Supercities: Problems of Urban Growth |
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Jul. 23, 1982 |
Reagan and the Cities |
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Nov. 18, 1977 |
Saving America's Cities |
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Oct. 31, 1975 |
Neighborhood Control |
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Nov. 21, 1973 |
Future of the City |
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Feb. 07, 1973 |
Restrictions on Urban Growth |
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May 20, 1970 |
Urbanization of the Earth |
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Nov. 06, 1968 |
New Towns |
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Oct. 04, 1967 |
Private Enterprise in City Rebuilding |
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Feb. 10, 1965 |
Megalopolis: Promise and Problems |
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Mar. 04, 1964 |
City Beautiful |
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Aug. 21, 1963 |
Urban Renewal Under Fire |
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Jan. 21, 1959 |
Metropolitan Areas and the Federal Government |
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Jul. 30, 1958 |
Persistence of Slums |
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Dec. 09, 1953 |
Outspreading Cities |
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Nov. 22, 1952 |
Slum Clearance: 1932–1952 |
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Jan. 14, 1937 |
Zoning of Urban and Rural Areas |
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