iced, there is water, sewage, electricity and tar roads especially at the new stance ward plots there attract buyers, and some of the people choose to sell their plots while others rent out their houses for economic gain”.
The study results in table 1 revealed that urban sprawl has got both negative and positive effects to the community of Tati Siding village. They mentioned that urban sprawl increases crime and the need for more services and infrastructure among other effects. The residents cited increase in crime as a negative effect caused by the urban sprawl. On the other hand, planners cited the need for more services and infrastructure affects government negatively. Provision of more services and infrastructure can be viewed as both positive and negative outcome of urban sprawl, positive in the sense that it is a development that upgrades the village and negative in that it is a costly undertaking for government and promotes sprawl, while, the increase in crime is definitely a negative outcome of urban sprawl. The results revealed that increase in crime as an effect caused by urban sprawl. This finding is supported by Kaur (2008) who suggests that urban sprawl increases crime in that criminals have lesser chance of being caught as strangers are mistaken as part of the residents. This view was also substantiated by Ellen & O’Regan (2009) who found that crime rates on cities declined more than crime in surrounding suburbs. Planners indicated that more services and infrastructure is required due to the effects of urban sprawl. These findings were supported by OECD, 2018 report that stated that urban sprawl caused massive investment in road infrastructure contributes to sprawl. This finding was also buttressed by Hussain (2016), who stated that urban sprawl compels policymakers to properly plan and ensure that proper service is delivered in a sprawled area. Hussain (2016) stated that excessive pressures on the available services will result in problems of sanitation, air pollution, inadequate access to safe drinking water, over-crowding and social problems. This finding was also supported by Habitat III (2016) report which stated that basic services and infrastructure prompt development and opportunities for people to develop their areas, and it is a key to the achievement of Agenda 2030 and SDGs. The report farther states that access to services is a basic human right and has to be provided for rapidly growing population. The finding was also supported by (The Brookings Institution, 2003; Siedentop & Fina, 2010)) who stated that infrastructure provision to sprawling communities’ costs more than in more compact built areas and that compact areas benefit from efficiency gains obtained by economies of scale. Kaur (2008); Angotti (2013) echoed the same sentiments that sprawled areas will force areas that were planned for a small number of people to cater for the sprawled community which results in overcrowding of services and infrastructure. Jarah, et al., (2019) were of the view that the inadequate distribution of infrastructure and services imposes pressure on government to incresase these services and infrastructure.
The study findings have revealed that both residents and planners believed that house rent is an economic benefit brought about by urban sprawl. The study finding is supported by (Kalabamu & Bolaane, 2014) who stated that communities were developing plots for rental purposes as a reliable source of income. According to Peppercorn & Taffin (2013) individuals provide rental housing to derive income from rental properties, giving them additional cash flow and contributing to the improvement of their standard of living. This particular finding of the research is also substantiated by Nguluma (2003), who mentioned that renting rooms was one of the key sources of supplementary income for house owners and that sprawl has increased the value of a house and housing stock in settlements which helps to solve the problem of housing shortage. This finding is supported by Zhang (2015) who postulated that rural areas land price changes more likely cause housing prices.
The study findings have also revealed that land value is an economic benefit brought about by urban sprawl. Land is a readily available fixed resource and land supply is fully inelastic. The study findings are supported by Cavailhes & Thomas (2011) who revealed that there were capital gains in land prices. Lynch (2007); Cavailhes & Thomas (2011) cited land value as a property that landowners needed as an economic commodity to maximize their profits and that it gives them regular monetary value. This means those who own land in the area can rent or sell for economic gain. This finding is supported by Cavailhes & Thomas (2011) who stated that that urban sprawl causes the conversion of rural land to appreciate in value due to investment and land speculation.
The study results indicated that urban sprawl causes many negative effects to the village, like more services and infrastructure needed and increase in crime. Planners indicated that if urban sprawl in the village is not controlled demand for more services and infrastructure will be required in the village to cope with the sprawling village, they said the demand for more services and infrastructure comes at a cost that may not have been budgeted for in the national development plan. The conclusion drawn was that urban sprawl has got negative effects to both the residents and government. The results clearly indicate that urban sprawl has got negative effects to Tati Siding village and therefore the study objective was achieved and confirmed. The results also clearly indicate that they are some economic benefits brought about by urban sprawl at Tati Siding village namely land value and house rent.
The researchers recommended that the government should reform land laws, policies and guidelines to curb urban sprawl, for example, government may implement urban growth boundary to separate urban and rural areas, and ban development in designated areas on the urban fringe, thereby directing development to the core city, not on the periphery, which will concentrate growth on higher density areas than low density area and make provision of infrastructural (such as roads, sewerage among others) development and improvement cheaper than when providing them in sprawled areas. Government through Parliament should also establish legislation that can promote sustainability and prevent urban sprawl. The researchers have got the view that adopting policy that have positive impact on agricultural incomes on urban fringes may have direct effect on reducing the outward sprawl of cities. The local government must also formulate specific policies that will encourage high-rise buildings which do not require big plots like single type building which spatially covers a larger area. There is also need for government planners to continuously monitor the implementation of the village development plans to ensure adherence to the development plans and review the plans in a cycle of every five years or as planned, because villages and cities are continually developing and changing as the population continues to increase and the life style of the inhabitants’ changes. This study recommends that further research be carried out in other villages located at the proximity of cities since this study was conducted at Tati Siding village only.
Angotti, T. (2013). The new century of the metropolitan: Urban enclave nad orietalism. In T. Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolitan: Urban Enclave nad Orietalism (pp. 40-45). New York: Routledge.
Aurambout, J.-P., Ricardo, B., & Land, L.C. (2018). towards a simpler characterization of urban sprawl across urban areas in Europe.Land.
Bekele, H. (2005). Urbanization and urban sprawl. Stockholm, Sweden.
Carlos, B.-S., & Daniel, C.-H. (2020). Sustaining what is unsustainable: A review of urban sprawl and urban socio-environmental policies in North America and Western Europe. Sustainability.
Cavailhes, J., & Thomas, I. (2011). The influence of urban sprawl on farmland prices in Belgium. ERSA conference papers (p. 1628). European Regional Science Association.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (2020). The world factbook. Washington, D.C: CIA.
Christiawan, P.I. (2019). Designing the mitigation model of urban sprawl potential impact in suburban denpasar, Bali. Journal of Physics.
Clapson, M., & Hutchison, R. (2010). Introduction: Suburbanization in global society. Emerald Insight, 1-14.
Department of Town and Regional Planning. (2009). Tatisiding development plan 2007 - 2031. Gaborone: Ministry of Lands, Water and Sanitation Services.
Egidi, G., Cividino, S., Vinci, S., Sateriano, A., & Salvia, R. (2020). towards local forms of sprawl: a brief reflection on mediterranean urbanization.Sustainability, 570-582.
Ekers, M., Hamel, P., & Keil, R. (2012). Governing suburbia, modalities and mechanisms of suburban governance. Regional Studies, 405-422.
Ellen, I.G., & O’Regan, K. (2009). Crime and U.S. cities: Recent patterns and implications. New York : New York University.
European Environment Agency. (2016). Urban sprawl in Europe. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
European Environment Agency (EEA). (2016). European environment agency. Retrieved from European Environment Agency Web site : https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/better-targeted-measures-nee.
Gomez-Antonio, M., Hortas-Rico, M., & Li, L. (2015). The causes of urban sprawl in spanish urban areas: A spatial approach. Spatial Economic Analysis, 219-245.
Habibi, S., & Asadi, N. (2011). Causes, results and methods of controlling urban sprawl. Procedia Engineerig, 133-141.
Habitat III. (2016). URBAN SERVICES AND