Hotspots for Growth

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Our study contributes to the ongoing debate about the ability of Maryland's Priority Funding Area (PFA) program to control urban sprawl. We develop an economic-based land use conversion model to estimate if the PFA program steers urban growth to locatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Planning Association 2012-01, Vol.78 (3), p.256-268
Main Authors: Hanlon, Bernadette, Howland, Marie, McGuire, Michael P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Highways
Land
Land utilization
Location
Markets
Maryland
Productivity
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Summary:Problem, research strategy, and findings: Our study contributes to the ongoing debate about the ability of Maryland's Priority Funding Area (PFA) program to control urban sprawl. We develop an economic-based land use conversion model to estimate if the PFA program steers urban growth to locations inside targeted growth areas within a fast-growing, exurban county. The results indicate that the size of an agricultural parcel, its distance from urban parcels, its proximity to highways, the productivity of agricultural land, and location in or outside PFAs influence the probability an agricultural parcel will be converted to urban use. We find that some of the parcels experiencing the greatest market pressure for development are located outside PFAs, and Maryland's incentive-based strategy is not completely effective at preventing sprawl. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0194-4363
DOI:10.1080/01944363.2012.715501