MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

Urban sprawl' is a term used to define the patterns of uncontrolled and haphazard development that characterizes the American landscape as of today. Economically, socially and environmentally, sprawl is creating some of the costliest problems that the United States now faces. The ‘Smart Growth' movement has emerged out of the realization that we need to rethink the way we grow. This thesis is an outcome of the need for documented evidence of the current status of smart growth in the state of Ohio. The research attempts to establish the conflicts and constraints in the context of smart growth in Ohio as well as in its two key sub-regions – Cleveland metropolitan area in Northeast and Cincinnati metropolitan area in Southwest Ohio. The methodology uses a case study analysis approach to document and analyze the macro and micro level dynamics of the two regions and the state of Ohio as a whole. The critical components of the study were the establishment of a smart growth prescription with nine overarching principles and their sub elements followed by a chronological evolution of smart growth in the state and in its two sub-regions and finally a matrix composition and analysis framework that was used to establish the relative status of smart growth in the two respective central cities, suburbs and metropolitan regions.

Committee: Carla Chifos (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning