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In 2006, Greenbelt Alliance, the Bay Area’s land conservation and urban planningControls by central or local government over the use of land. Land-use planning is used to keep activities causing harmful externalities, such as noise or visual intrusion, away from places where they are believed to be particularly harmful. organization, published the newest edition of its landmark study on the state of the region’s landscapes.

The report found that today, there are 401,500 acres of greenbelt lands at risk of sprawlThe process in which the spread of development across the landscape far outpaces population growth. The landscape sprawl creates has four characteristics: a population that is widely dispersed in low-densityThe amount of development per acrea unit of area used in land measurement and equal to 43,560 square feet. This is approximately equivalent to 4,840 square yards, 160 square rods, 0.405 hectares, and 4,047 square meters. permitted on a parcelA lot, or contiguous group of lots, in single ownership or under single control, usually considered a unit for purposes of development. under the applicable zoning. development; rigid separation of uses, so that homes, commerce and workplaces are segregated from one another; a network of roads laid out to separate land into huge blocks and offering poor access; and a lack of well-defined, thriving activity centers, such as downtowns and town centers. Most of the other features usually associated with sprawl – a lack of transportation choices, relative uniformity of housing options, and difficulty walking from place to place – result from these conditions. development. That includes 125,200 acres at risk within the next 10 years, classified as high-risk land, and 276,200 acres at risk within the next 10 to 30 years, classified as medium-risk land. If current development patterns continue, roughly one out of every 10 acres in the entire Bay Area could be paved over in the next thirty years.

Download At Risk 2006 (PDF, 32 pp, May 2006)