The Boulder (Colorado) Open Space and Mountain Parks program commenced to preserve the natural environment and open space of the area. This is a program driven and supported by the immediate community. In short, the provisions in the Boulder city Open Space and Mountain Parks Charter allow for the limiting of urban sprawl as well as preservation and restoration of water resources, scenic environment, flora or fauna, terrain and geological formations, historical sites and arable land.
As admirable as Boulder City’s efforts to preserve and expand open spaces is, this limits the availability of land for human habitation. This, in turn, has raised the housing prices in the city as well as caused population booms in the neighboring towns. The number of homeless people in Boulder City has increased since the poor cannot keep up with the rising house prices. Some of these people now live in shelters while others opt for the illegal camping.
I think that a placing a limit of who can live where is ethically right as long as the administration addresses negative repercussions. This is because urban planning aims at improving a city’s economy, infrastructure and natural resource management methods. The governments in most countries strive to keep urban growth and development in check while balancing the demands for housing for the poor, historic preservation and property rights (Priemus and Metselaar 449). A study conducted by Collins and Shester (16) reveals that those cities that undertook urban renewal posted considerably better property value, population growth and income in 1980 than those that did not. However, those cities posted higher numbers of displaced people and homeless people who could no longer afford housing in areas where urban renewal programs had targeted.
Urban sprawl is the unmitigated spreading of cities or their suburbs. Concerns on urban sprawl focus mainly on the negative repercussions for residents. Some people, however, argue that it mirrors positive growth of the local economy. Urban sprawl has links with pollution, congestion and crime.
Works Cited
Priemus, Hugo and Gerard Metselaar. “Urban Renewal Policy in a European Perspective.”
Netherlands Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 8, 4: 447-470. 1993. Print.
Collins, William and Katharine, Shester. “The Economic Effects of Slum Clearance and Urban
Renewal in the United States.” 2010. PDF file.
