Perverse Cities: Hidden Subsidies, Wonky Policy, and Urban Sprawl

by Pamela Blais

Urban sprawl - low-density subdivisions and business parks, big box stores and mega-malls - has increasingly come to define city growth despite decades of planning and policy. In Perverse Cities , Pamela Blais argues that flawed public policies and mis-pricing create hidden, “perverse” subsidies and incentives that promote sprawl while discouraging more efficient and sustainable urban forms - clearly not what most planners and environmentalists have in mind. She makes the case for accurate pricing and better policy to curb sprawl and shows how this can be achieved in practice through a range of market-oriented tools that promote efficient, sustainable cities.

Genres: Urban Planning, Nonfiction, Politics, Cities

294 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2010

Reviews

[Malcolm Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

The crux of Perverse Cities can be summed up with a philosophical & logical bent: the status quo subsidizes its own future, and its future brings more status quo. A vicious cycle to be sure, but one borne of humanity’s tendency towards inertia.

What the author of Perverse Cities brings to the urban development discussion is an argument centered on policy. The author engaged in thorough research, with a particular geographic focus on Canada. Uncovering the facets of policy that reinforce inefficient use of space (i.e. sprawl), the author delves into the multitude of infrastructural components of a modern society, and how the inane paradigm of lateral growth has no rational basis backing it up. The counterarguments point towards choice coupled with market forces, yet never seem to grasp the mechanisms behind why those choices are made in the first place (hint: status quo).

I think the author could have dived a little deeper into duplicitous aspects that reinforce development inefficiencies, such as corruption, short-term economics, lack of ethics, and nepotism. Instead, the author stays with the plainly objective maths and the plainly lazy decisions made by the eponymous makers. Ultimately, Perverse Cities reads like an expanded dissertation, without much expansion into theory or psychosocial discourse. The author could have asked the elephantine questions as to WHY the inertia reigns, especially when endless information shows the detrimental effects it causes. Delving into why externalities are dismissed, why developers and politicians don’t readily adapt to smart growth, or why AI systems aren’t emplaced to allow for spatial cost assessments…

It seems a wasted opportunity. Perhaps the author is planning a sequel that embraces a full-fledged discussion concerning progressive options. There are certainly books out there that’d complement Perverse Cities in that regard (e.g. Zero Marginal Cost Society, or Thriving Cities). Nevertheless, a solid effort resides in the pages of Perverse Cities, and the information continues to be relevant, unfortunately because sprawl-philic policies still pervade across the municipalities of North America.

[Johan W.]

When people take control of planning, things get messy. I found the book quite insightful on why sprawl perpetuates amidst (intensive and deliberate) planning efforts. But some of the solutions provided, like pricing, can have significant (bad) unintended consequences. The take-home for me: there is no single solution and one should take the context into account. And you should be creative - there are a couple of tips presented to consider.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much everyone sees urban sprawl as a problem, lots of cities create elaborate plans to combat it, and yet urban areas continue to grow unchecked. In this book, Blais explores the underlying reasons for urban sprawl and exposes tired policies and irrelevant government subsidies that continue to fund it.
I'm not a civil engineer so I'm certain I missed some of the finer points, but this was still a fascinating read that helped me understand why cities that say they want to build differently continue in the cycle of urban sprawl.