Why is the concept of scale important to the study of urban sprawl?
As mentioned above, scale (spatial and temporal) is an inherently important issue in the problem of urban sprawl. Spatial scale refers to the spatial dimension of an object or process (Turner et al 2001). When urban development sprawls into the countryside, it is a change in the spatial dimension of both the urban and agricultural areas. To detect and manage urban sprawl, changes in the spatial dimensions or scale of both urban and non-urban environments must be monitored. Additionally, several spatial scales are important to consider when trying to understand the causes and consequences of urban sprawl. Urban development decisions are often made at the local level in terms of municipality ordinances, zoning polices, taxes and housing policies. However, it is the regional scale at which we are able to detect the overall pattern of sprawl. The economic, social, and environmental consequences of sprawl can be measured on both a local and regional scale depending on the variable of concer
