Population, immigration, and urban sprawl

From: "Mark Krikorian"
Population, immigration, and urban sprawl

[FYI: A panel on August 26 to release a new report. If you're not in
Washington, the report will be posted on line the day of the release, and
the panel transcript will be on line a couple of days later. -- Mark
Krikorian]

OUTSMARTING SMART GROWTH
Study Finds Population Growth Key Reason for Sprawl

WASHINGTON (August 2003) -- In recent years, a host of local governments,
states, and non-profit organizations have adopted initiatives designed to
save rural land from sprawl. Most anti-sprawl efforts have focused on
"Smart Growth" strategies, which emphasize better planning to create more
efficient land use.

A new study from the Center for Immigration Studies indicates that this
approach will have only limited success in saving rural land because it
fails to address a key reason for sprawl -- immigration-driven population
growth. Based on data from the Census Bureau and from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, the study finds
that about half the loss of rural land in recent decades is attributable to
increases in the U.S. population, while changes in land use account for the
other half.

The 122-page report, entitled "Outsmarting Smart Growth: Population Growth,
Immigration, and the Problem of Sprawl," contains detailed information for
every state and will be available on line at www.cis.org .

On Tuesday, August 26, the Center will host a panel discussion to release
this report. The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the First Amendment
Room of the National Press Club, 14th & F streets, N.W. The panelists will
include:

* Roy Beck, study co-author and director of the NumbersUSA Education and
Research Foundation

* Ben Zuckerman, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and a member of
the UCLA Institute of the Environment; Board Member of both the Sierra Club
and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

* Steven Camarota, study co-author and Director of Research at the Center
for Immigration Studies.

The discussion is free and open to the public. For more information,
contact John Keeley at (202) 466-8185 or jmk@cis.org.

# # #

The Center for Immigration Studies is a non-profit, non-partisan research
organization which examines and critiques the impact of immigration on the
United States. It is not affiliated with any other organization.

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Mark Krikorian, executive director
Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K Street N.W., Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
msk@cis.org http://www.cis.org
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