HOLDING THE LINE: URBAN CONTAINMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Many communities are concerned with sprawl and have enacted policies to contain it. One of the policies utilized is the creation of geographical constraints to contain urban growth. These policies are also known as "urban containment" policies. Not much is known about the effect of urban containment policies, though some descriptive material exists about their impacts on urban form and costs. This paper synthesizes and presents current knowledge pertaining to urban containment in the United States.