The expansion of cities has been the topic of all the components in the cities and land-use section. The most recent discussions of suburbanization have pointed out that the development of the suburban office and retail shopping clusters off major freeways, particularly the ring roads and ring ways, has produced landscapes that are very much like the old downtowns of the streetcar era. This means that in the intersections of the highway network, we find offices, residences, and in many locations extensive entertainment venues. These concentrations have caused people to describe the new suburban landscape as an edge city. The edge cities promote discontinuity within metropolitan areas because people in the suburban zone relate to the nodes in the edge rather than the downtown; they therefore have an action space that is quite limited to their section of the metropolitan area.

Web Sites

To view the following Web sites, please go to "See also," below.

The Teachers' Corner contains links to suggested Web sites. The College Board neither endorses, controls the content of, nor reviews the external Web sites included here. Please note that following links to external Web sites will open a new browser window. If you discover a link that does not work, please let us know by sending an e-mail to apctechsupport@collegeboard.org.

Edge Cities
A good informational page on edge cities.

Primate City and Rank-Size Rule
A very useful About.com article based on Mark Jefferson's work. Also includes comparisons of countries with and without primate cities.

Problems with Sprawl
Briefly explains problems associated with urban sprawl and provides appropriate links for further information and specific examples.

Perspectives on Urban Sprawl
Newspaper article detailing clashes between environmentalists and builders over the benefits and drawbacks of urban sprawl. Good coverage of both sides of the issue.

Urban Sprawl
Variety of articles related to urban sprawl from About.com

Urban Sprawl: Builders, Environmentalists Clash Over Nation's Growth
Realty Times newspaper article detailing clashes between environmentalists and builders over the benefits and drawbacks of urban sprawl. Relatively fair treatment.

Home From Nowhere?
This is an interesting article from Atlantic Monthly on urbanism. In particular, it discusses New Urbanism, automobiles in cities, and the density of cities. Article contains links to other articles. Pictures.