**9.2 Housing**

Accompanying urban sprawl is the use of large housing that usually exceeds the physical needs of residents. Large housing costs more in heating and cooling costs. According to StatsCan, housing costs a further 30 per cent of disposable income of Canadians (Times Colonist, Dec. 18, 2011)

Compared to North America, urban and employment sprawls are less prevalent in Europe and Asia. The International Association of Public Transport policy indicates that in European and Asian counties 5-8 % of GDP is spent on transportation, compared to 13 % in North America.

The causes of urban sprawl are acknowledged to be mainly zoning laws. Sprawl generates much revenue for real estate, automobile and oil companies. A small number of policymakers have spoken out about urban sprawl, but at this time, they are a minority (NZ Herald, Dec. 17, 2011).

Simply reducing urban sprawl by allowing employment and residences to be located close to city centers would greatly reduce fuel consumption by reducing dependence on cars, and

Modern Transitions in Saving Energy and the Environment 207

Fig. 8. Carbon dioxide concentrations as directly measured at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. (courtesy

Deforestation over the decades and centuries has brought down naturally forested areas to less than 10 % of their prehistoric levels. Paradoxically, it has been observed that forest densities have significantly increased over the decades (Figure 9). Forests in many regions of the world have actuallly become of higher density, according to researchers in Rockefeller's

The reason cited in the above study is better management of the forests. One contradiction of the above explanation is that increased density of forests have also been observed in

Fig. 9. These photos from the same spot in Finland, taken in 1893 (left) and in 1997 (right) show that while the forest area is the same, the trees have become larger (Courtesy:

Wikipedia).

Program for the Human Environment.

newswire.rockefeller.edu).

places where there has been no maintenance of forests.

encouraging mass transit like buses and subways. This would be more sustainable in the long run.

### **9.3 Recent decline in housing market in North America**

In the ongoing decline in the housing market in North America, prices in distant suburbs have gone down by 66 %, whereas prices in the urban areas have gone down by about 20 %. While many explanations have been given for this crash in the housing market, it could also be evidence of the non-sustainability of urban sprawl, in the face of rising fuel costs. Faced with fuel costs at \$ 3 - 4 per gallon, commuting over long distances is becoming an increasingly expensive option. With high fuel costs, housing in distant suburbs, and an automobile-dependent lifestyle has lost much of its former appeal.
