DEVELOPMENT INSIDE URBAN-GROWTH BOUNDARIES - OREGON EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE OF CONTIGUOUS URBAN FORM

Both popular and professional literatures have expounded on the proble ms (and sometimes the benefits) of urban sprawl. We all know it when w e see it, but defining it in ways that facilitate measurement can be d ifficult. One part of the definition that can be measured is the degre e to which development touches other development. Discontiguous develo pment in urban areas suggests sprawl; contiguous development suggests a more compact urban form. This article reports evidence on whether an d to what, extent development inside urban growth boundaries (UGBs) of three Oregon communities is contiguous or dispersed. The case study m ethod it uses provides a logical and replicable means for describing a nd quantifying urban development patterns. Data from the three UGB cas e studies are evaluated within a framework based on Oregon's land use policies. The article concludes that recent development inside UGBs te nds to be contiguous to the urban core rather than dispersed, consiste nt with Oregon's policies for urban farm, but that urban development p atterns can be improved by applying additional urban growth management tools now being developed for inclusion in Oregon's planning program.