Techniques for Mitigating Urban Sprawl 

(PI: Robert Paterson, CoPIs: Chandra Bhat and Kara Kockelman)

As the negative impact of urban sprawl become more obvious, communities are searching for effective techniques for mitigating these impacts and are turning to the concept of smart growth as a solution. In many ways, “smart growth” is simply a new term for what planners have always been trying to do: guide development in an efficient and effective way to minimize infrastructure costs an environmental impacts and to maximize quality of life for residents. As communities around the state turn to the concept of smart growth and sprawl mitigation as a way to preserve quality of life in the face of rapid growth, TxDOT must take an active role in facilitating such efforts. The primary objective of this project is to help TxDOT understand the full range of sprawl mitigation techniques available to Texas communities and the role that transportation planning plays in these efforts. At the core of the workplan is the development of a matrix of sprawl mitigation techniques classified by their effectiveness and appropriateness in different contexts. This project will not generate recommendations about how to implement sprawl mitigation in Texas, but it will provide guidance on how to make transportation decisions that are consistent with sprawl mitigation in the Texas context.