arbiter
JournalsPricingAccount

Influence of State Planning Environments on Urban Sprawl

Himanshu Grover & Jerry Anthony

Urban Affairs Review2026https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874261436363article
ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This study evaluates the impact of state planning environments on urban sprawl over a 20-year period. Leveraging the recent state planning policy evaluation by APA, we employed structural equation modeling to investigate the complex pathways influencing urban sprawl. Key mediating variables include urban population growth, expansion of developed areas, and changes in natural resource areas, while controlling shifts in service-sector employment. Our findings suggest that state-level planning significantly influences urban density and reduces urban sprawl. Thus, rather than relying only on special sprawl control tools, whose adoption and implementation are often politically contentious, communities could use a slew of common land use planning tools, supported by a strong state planning mandate. Stronger state planning can amplify the effectiveness of common planning tools and, support targeted instruments such as urban growth boundaries; this portfolio approach is less divisive and more feasible in many contexts yet still accommodates stronger controls where warranted.

Open paper page →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874261436363

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{himanshu2026,
  title        = {{Influence of State Planning Environments on Urban Sprawl}},
  author       = {Himanshu Grover & Jerry Anthony},
  journal      = {Urban Affairs Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874261436363},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Influence of State Planning Environments on Urban Sprawl

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.