Indirect Effects Of Urban Sprawl

Municipal Finance is directly and indirectly impacted by urban sprawling. In Canada it has become very desirable to live in sub-divisions with large yards and single family dwellings (2). These types of subdivisions create urban sprawl by spreading out residential and commercial areas in such a way that public transit is not feasible and residents require vehicles to transport themselves to work, school and recreational activities (1). Therefore, creating a strained balance between municipalities to be desirable and provide needed infrastructure while be fiscally responsible.
A direct effect of urban sprawl would be the raised cost and amount of infrastructure needed to accommodate the provision of municipal services in a larger, less concentrated area (1). An example of this would be water and sewer mains. There is a fixed cost associated with installing a kilometre of water or sewer pipes. In a concentrated urban setting thousands of residents can be provided with water within a few block radius, in a less concentrated area in may only service a 100 residents for the same cost (2).
By stretching the low-density housing residents feel the increased need to own multiple vehicles per a family and drive to all activities, thus causing more traffic and air pollution. Although these effects of urban are indirect, they are very costly and controversial to solve. Therefore, one can see that urban sprawl has both direct and indirect implications on Municipal finance operating on finite