Racial segregated ghettos emerged in America’s cities when the African Americans started migrating to the north. They were moving to the north because it was an industrial city and they believed that they could get better employment opportunities there. The African Americans moved out from the rural southern part of the United States to the north to form the ghettos where they lived in. They were running away from the widespread racism of the south. They were also escaping from the harsh federal rules that were imposed on housing and transport while looking for a better life in the north (Judd & Swanstrom 23).
The African Americans were confined to certain neighborhoods because they could not stand the racial discrimination they experienced from the south. They were able to find better jobs and good wages in the north and they felt contented in the ghettos. Even though they felt they had a better life in the ghettos, they encountered some setbacks. There was housing shortage since many people had moved into the ghettos causing overcrowding. They also lacked privacy due to overcrowding in the ghettos.
Federal transportation and homeownership policies helped stimulate the emergence of suburbs. The federal government made it affordable for people to build homes by providing loans and subsidies to help them move to new suburbs. Due to the emergence of suburbs, the central city population decreased as many people moved to the suburbs. It affected the urban health as all businesses were moved to the suburbs where many people lived (Judd & Swanstrom 67).
Urban sprawl is the uncontrolled and unplanned expansion of cities or suburbs. Urban sprawl is always blamed on health and environmental issues. Due to congestion brought about by urban sprawl, people are at high risks of contacting contagious diseases since more pollution is emitted. Delay in emergency services is another problem that can be encountered in sprawls. This is possible because the houses are built so close making it hard to reach the victims incase of an emergency.
The new urbanism movement is proposing to disinvest in central cities and reconstructing of pubic policy in support of regional planning for open space to reduce congestion. They are promoting Traditional Neighborhood developments (TNDs) and Transit-oriented Development so as to increase gross density in urbanized areas.
Works Cited
Judd, Dennis R. and Swanstrom, Todd. City Politics: Political Economy of Urban America, 6th Edition. New York: Longman Press, 2007. Print.
