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In 1990, Atlanta, Georgia was noted in the United States as the city with the largest sprawl area, with 701 mile˛ (1,815 km˛) of urban development. The Atlanta metropolitan area has a population of 3.8 million persons. In contrast, Hong Kong fits a population of 7.3 million persons in 421 mile˛ (1,090 km˛).
By many measures, real estate development is taken as a measure of progress. When a city grows laterally, new homes are built, transportationFor the movement of people or objects, see transport. For the shipping of convicted criminals to penal colonies, see penal transportation. projects are undertaken, and property value s often are higher in the new areas of the metropolitan area. In addition, many AmericanAmerican when used as an adjective, can mean of the United States of America or of or relating to the Americas when used as a noun, United States citizen ''residing in the Americas or less frequently American English. English language speakers, especiallys--especially middle and upper class families--have shown preferences for the suburban lifestyle. Reasons cited include a preference towards lower-density development (since it often features lower ambient noise and increased privacy), better schools, and lower crime rates (even though car-related fatalities often make it more dangerous to live in the suburbs than in the city).
Yet after an explosion of sprawl in the later half of the 20th century in the United States, some drawbacks have emerged towards this growth pattern. When citizens live in a larger space, often at a lower density, carAn automobile usually called a car (an old word for carriage) or a truck is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own engine. Older terms include horseless carriage and motor car with "motor" referring to what is now usually called the engine. The act of ope usage often becomes endemic and public transporttaxi serving as a bus Public transport comprises all transport systems in which the passengers do not travel in their own vehicles. It is also called public transit or mass transit . While it is generally taken to mean rail and bus services, wider definit often becomes infeasible, forcing city planners to build large highwayA highway is a major road within a city, or linking several cities together. It includes roads known as interstate highway, freeway, motorway and autobahn, where a full description varies by country. Generally, a highway is a road which has multiple lanes and parkingParking is the act of stopping a vehicle, exiting it, and leaving the vehicle unoccupied for more than a brief time. It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road. In all countries where motor vehicles are infrastructureInfrastructure is the set of interconnected structural elements that provide the framework for supporting the entire structure. The term is often used very abstractly. For instance, software engineering tools are sometimes described as part of the infrast, which in turn decreases taxable land, and revenue, and decreases the desirability of the area adjacent to such structures.
In addition, urban sprawl often consumes land that would other be used for "natural" purposes, such as wildlife reserves, forests, and agriculture. Detractors of sprawl often espouse smart growth and/or New Urbanism. Urban sprawl isn't the only way to increase real estate development; many of the urban areas of cities in Japan, Hong Kong, and Europe which have urban growth plans show higher property values than do their suburbs.