The Use of Green Belts to Control Sprawl in the United States

Abstract

The United States is projected to add more than 130 million people by the year 2050, and much of this population increase will probably occur in metropolitan regions. A small number of metropolitan counties have adopted green belt strategies in an attempt to curb sprawling urban, suburban, and rural residential development in their hinterlands. These counties are using urban growth boundaries, low-density agricultural zoning, and the purchase of development rights to farmland to create and maintain green belts. The performance of green belts as a growth management tool in six counties is mixed. There has been notable success in the amount of farmland preserved in green belts compared with farmland developed. But in one-half of the counties, rates of population growth have exceeded the national average, and housing has become much less affordable than the national average. Still, the fiscal condition of these counties is strong.