UTA researcher’s book looks at quality-of-life concerns associated with urban sprawl

The University of Texas at Arlington News Releases


A new book, co-authored by a UTA researcher, empirically shows how badly sprawl affects health and other quality-of-life outcomes.
The Costs of Sprawl, written by Shima Hamidi, executive director of The University of Texas at Arlington’s Institute of Urban Studies and an assistant professor in the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs, and Reid Ewing, professor at the University of Utah, originates in studies that were funded from National Institutes of Health and Ford Foundation.


Hamidi and Ewing used 21 criteria in evaluating quality-of-life issues among residents who live in major metropolitan statistical areas. This book shows that life expectancy, economic mobility, transportation choices, and personal health and safety all improve in less sprawling areas (See the table below).

Quality-of-Life Outcome


Relationship to Sprawl


Housing affordability


Positive and significant


Transportation affordability


Negative and significant


Upward mobility (probability a child born to a family in the bottom income quintile reaches the top quintile by age 30)


Negative and significant


Average household vehicle ownership


Positive and significant


Vehicle miles traveled


Positive and significant


Percentage of commuters walking to work


Negative and significant


Percentage of commuters using public transit


Negative and significant


Average journey-to-work drive time


Positive and significant


Traffic crash rate per 100,000 population


Negative and significant


Injury crash rate per 100,000 population


Negative and significant


Fatal crash rate per 100,000 population


Positive and significant


Body mass index


Positive and significant


Obesity


Positive and significant


Any physical activity


Not significant


Diagnosed high blood pressure


Positive and significant


Diagnosed heart disease


Positive and significant


Diagnosed diabetes


Positive and significant


Average life expectancy


Negative and significant





Shima Hamidi, executive director of The University of Texas at Arlington’s Institute of Urban Studies and an assistant professor in the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs

Dallas, Plano and Irving were lumped into one MSA while Arlington and Fort Worth made up another metropolitan statistical area.
“We found ...

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