Expansion of urban development from the center of the region towards its periphery has been the outstanding change in the physical make-up of the New York metropolitan area in the past 15 years.
As noted in Regional Plan Bulletin No. 63, the rate of population spread has been twice that of population growth. This marks the reaction from the old over-crowded conditions in the central part of our cities, to the attraction of new housing and the fact that improved transportation makes the outlying areas increasingly accessible and attractive. The justification of the increased transportation involved in this outward movement should be the realization of a permanent improvement in living conditions.
While much of the new development fulfills this requirement, a large part of it has repeated the mistakes of the past and after the newness has worn off, it will be little better than the older areas which were left. Unless a sound policy of land use is developed and implemented through the controls which municipalities can apply, such as zoning and subdivision regulations, the whole decentralizing movement can become a social and economic liability to the Region.
