How promising are urban design solutions as a measure to reduce sprawl?
New Urbanism, Traditional Neighborhood Development (TNDs), Transit-Oriented Development (TODs), cluster development, and Open Space Subdivisions are widely recommended as strategies to reduce the amount of land used for development. Cluster development and Open Space Subdivisions are designed for rural areas. Typically, the strategy is to maintain gross densities, but reduce the visual and environmental impact of the subdivision on the land by clustering buildings to preserve some of the land as open space. New Urbanism, TNDs and TODs are designed for urban areas, whether a rural village, a large suburban development, or infill development in urban and suburban sites. In theory, TNDs are intended to increase gross densities in urbanized areas and promote compact development. The promise of TNDs to solve the problems cited in the literature on sprawl depends on two things: The willingness of a large segment of homebuyers to accept living in denser neighborhoods and more compact communit
