OUTSMARTING SMART
GROWTH
Study Finds Population Growth Key Reason for Sprawl
WASHINGTON (August 2003) -- In recent years, a host of local governments,
states, and non-profit organizations have adopted initiatives designed
to save rural land from sprawl. Most anti-sprawl efforts have focused
on "Smart Growth" strategies, which emphasize better planning
to create more efficient land use.
A new study from the Center for Immigration Studies indicates that
this
approach will have only limited success in saving rural land because
it
fails to address a key reason for sprawl -- immigration-driven population
growth. Based on data from the Census Bureau and from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, the study
finds that about half the loss of rural land in recent decades is
attributable to increases in the U.S. population, while changes in
land use account for the other half.
The 122-page report, entitled "Outsmarting Smart Growth: Population
Growth, Immigration, and the Problem of Sprawl," contains detailed
information for every state and will be available on line at www.cis.org
.
On Tuesday, August 26, the Center will host a panel discussion to
release
this report. The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the First Amendment
Room of the National Press Club, 14th & F streets, N.W. The panelists
will
include:
* Roy Beck, study co-author and director of the Numbers USA Education
and Research Foundation
* Ben Zuckerman, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and a
member of the UCLA Institute of the Environment; Board Member of both
the Sierra Club and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
* Steven Camarota, study co-author and Director of Research at the
Center
for Immigration Studies.
The discussion is free and open to the public. For more information,
contact John Keeley at (202) 466-8185 or jmk@cis.org.
# # #
The Center for Immigration Studies is a non-profit, non-partisan
research
organization which examines and critiques the impact of immigration
on the United States. It is not affiliated with any other organization.