Urban sprawl and the local state (Florida)

Urban sprawl is a descriptive term of art commonly referring to low density, scattered development extending out from cities. Although many studies have examined the causes, costs, and solutions to sprawl, consensus on what to do about sprawl remains elusive. Much work has been framed by the assumptions of neo-classical economics or other functionalist theorizations. Little work has been done on the role of the local state in the production of urban sprawl. This dissertation synthesizes a research framework from structuration and realism theories in order to examine how two local states in Florida, Manatee and Sarasota counties, have acted to encourage and discourage urban sprawl development. Production of space theories offered by Lefebvre and Gottdiener, along with a theorization of the state offered by Jessop, are used to explore the policies and actions of these two local governments. The use of a structuration-realism framework has enabled the research to examine beyond the level of events to explore the mechanisms that generate urban sprawl. Major findings show that these two local states have taken distinctively different approaches to the issue of sprawl which have in turn affected the developing urban landscapes. Multiple, competing conceptions of the forms of urban sprawl, i.e., socially defined spatial forms, have combined to recursively condition the actions of the local state as well as capital and civil society. Urban sprawl is a form of urban development that is being reproduced via unique institutionalized practices of each local state.