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Definition
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Current Conditions
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History
Trends
Expected future
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Key uncertainties
Alternative futures
Leading indicators
Trends
The Top 20 fastest growing metropolitan areas from America's 50 largest, 1990-98
| Rank |
Metro area |
1990 |
1998 |
Increase |
% change |
| 1 |
Las Vegas |
852,646 |
1,321,546 |
468,900 |
55.0% |
| 2 |
Phoenix |
2,238,498 |
2,931,004 |
692,506 |
30.9% |
| 3 |
Austin |
846,227 |
1,105,909 |
259,682 |
30.7% |
| 4 |
Atlanta |
2,959,500 |
3,746,059 |
786,559 |
26.6% |
| 5 |
Raleigh-Durham |
858,485 |
1,079,873 |
221,388 |
25.8% |
| 6 |
Orlando |
1,224,844 |
1,504,569 |
279,725 |
22.8% |
| 7 |
Portland, Ore. |
1,793,476 |
2,149,056 |
355,580 |
19.8% |
| 8 |
West Palm Beach, Fla. |
863,503 |
1,032,625 |
169,122 |
19.6% |
| 9 |
Denver |
1,980,140 |
2,365,345 |
385,205 |
19.5% |
| 10 |
Charlotte |
1,162,140 |
1,383,080 |
220,940 |
19.0% |
| 11 |
Dallas-Fort Worth |
4,037,282 |
4,802,463 |
765,181 |
19.0% |
| 12 |
Salt Lake City |
1,072,227 |
1,267,745 |
195,518 |
18.2% |
| 13 |
Houston |
3,731,029 |
4,407,579 |
676,550 |
18.1% |
| 14 |
Nashville |
985,026 |
1,156,225 |
171,199 |
17.4% |
| 15 |
San Antonio |
1,324,749 |
1,538,338 |
213,589 |
16.1% |
| 16 |
Seattle |
2,970,300 |
3,424,361 |
454,061 |
15.3% |
| 17 |
Jacksonville |
906,727 |
1,044,684 |
137,957 |
15.2% |
| 18 |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale |
3,192,725 |
3,655,844 |
463,119 |
14.5% |
| 19 |
Sacramento |
1,481,220 |
1,685,812 |
204,592 |
13.8% |
| 20 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul |
2,538,776 |
2,831,234 |
292,458 |
11.5% |
Source: www.bizjournals.com/journals/demographics/reports/77/77-2.html
Percentage of world's population that is urban
| Year |
Percentage |
| 1950 |
29% |
| 1965 |
36% |
| 1990 |
50% |
| 2025 |
(est.) 60% |
Source: Richard Rogers, Cities for a Small Planet, Westview
Press, 1997.
Number of telecommuters in United States
| Year |
Estimate |
| 1985 |
10-30,000 |
| 1991 |
5.5 million |
| 1993 |
6.1 million
|
| 1995 |
8 million |
| 2002 |
15 million |
Source: G.H. May, Futures 30, 1998, p890.
Nine [optimistic] trends from The Planning Commissioners' Journal
- Co-operation between developers and environmentalists. Seeing growth
as inevitable, both sides can be more flexible on identifying common
interests and creating "smart growth" that is best for all concerned.
- Increased focus on "participatory" planning. "The more citizens interact
with one another and the government as citizens and equals, not clients,
the healthier the community and stronger the government."
- Cyberspace impacts on land use. A decentralising of many office functions
to low-cost areas, smaller satellite offices, or private homes. Other
changes (not mentioned on the website) could result from ecommerce:
changes of use for traditional stores, more deliveries, more small companies
able to reach a wider market without multiple outlets.
- More compact development and mixed-use centres. Denser, more varied
neighbourhoods, featuring commercial and residential buildings, with
a wider mix of housing types and a lesser reliance on cars.
- Open space networks and greenways expand. Pedestrian and bicycle friendly
networks of open spaces as an alternative to conventional roads and
sidewalks.
- Integrating transportation land use planning. Creating a highway,
road and sidewalk network that meets the best needs of all users, and
is not divorced from the planning of the land through which it travels.
- Growing needs of the poor and older Americans. Conventional development
separates different types of housing and works against those wishing
to rent their home. The growing number of elderly will have impacts
on all of society and should be borne in mind.
- Downtowns come back. Many downtown areas are booming (Houston expects
its downtown population to quadruple by 2010) thanks to new redevelopment
and people wanting to take advantage of the areas' amenities and density.
- Regional co-operation increasingly valued. It is important for regions
to take a wider view of new developments, cities and suburbs acting
together for example.
Source: www.plannersweb.com/trends.html
Other trends
- 53.2 million Americans lived outside of metropolitan areas in 1995,
up 5.0 percent from 1990. That nearly matched the growth rate for the
nation as a whole, 5.6 percent. (www.bizjournals.com/journals/demographics/reports/51)
- An increase in boutique-type stores in suburbs, catering to younger
people who have moved out from the city. (New York Times Magazine,
2000-04-09)
- Peoples' fear of crime leading to greater demand for more secure houses
and communities; LA's gated mansions for the middle-class. e.g., Houston's Canyon Gate developments.
- Increasing numbers of Reclaim The Streets style protests asserting
pedestrians' and cyclists' rights over cars.
- New building materials and techniques allow new forms of building. This will no doubt meet resistance, considering the vast number of "traditional" housing forms that seem popular. But public buildings are becoming increasingly daring, and this may, over time, bring about acceptance of new forms.
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