Review of This Land: The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of America (Hardcover)

'This Land' by Anthony Flint is written by a journalist in a journalistic style. The core of this book is devoted to the battle of ideologies over land use in America: the smart growth movement advocating for control on suburban growth, the new urbanists insisting on the need to rethink our zoning laws currently favoring inefficient sprawl, and property right advocates and lobbyists fighting to gain full control over what can be developed on their property. This story spanning over essentially half a century is told using a myriad of anecdotes and examples from all across America. One such story relates how land owners request compensations for lost revenues (equated to governmental takings) resulting from the restrictions on development outside urban growth boundaries. Flint remains critical and objective, avoiding an overt endorsement of anyone in particular. Many of the themes discussed in books such as `Suburban Nation' or `The Geography of Nowhere' are covered, but with a journalistic tone and restraint.

Beyond merely covering the familiar arguments, he suggests, somewhat surprisingly, that smart growth is itself a `conservative idea'. Our current growth practices are not truly a reflection of the free market; they are highly subsidized by way of highway investments and the costly expansion of public services by local governments (e.g. roads, sewers, schools, fire and police departments). Instead of building on brown sites and urban infills, cities expand on greenfields further and further away stretching tax dollars up to a point of imminent bankruptcy.

This book's strength is in providing a non-partisan account of the political and economical battles over land use in America. Its weakness may be an overabundance of short anecdotal stories found in the middle part of the book. Some suggestions are made in the very last chapter as to what can be done to improve our public space and reduce the wastefulness of our current growth practices. Those seeking a severe and incisive criticism of modern urbanism may be better served by reading `Suburban Nation'. However, this book presents the multitude of conflicting positions that other authors are essentially arguing for or against.



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