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A Field Guide to Sprawl Paperback – June 17, 2006

by Dolores Hayden Ph.D. (Author), Jim Wark (Photographer)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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A visual lexicon of the colorful slang, from alligator investment to zoomburb, that defines sprawl in America.

A Field Guide to Sprawl was selected by the urban web site Planetizen for its list of "Top Ten Books in Urban Studies" and by Discover magazine for its list of "Top 20 Books in Science." Features on the book appeared in The New York Times and the Boston Globe.

Duck, ruburb, tower farm, big box, and pig-in-a-python are among the dozens of zany terms invented by real estate developers and designers today to characterize land-use practices and the physical elements of sprawl. Sprawl in the environment, based on the metaphor of a person spread out, is hard to define. This concise book engages its meaning, explains common building patterns, and illustrates the visual culture of sprawl. Seventy-five stunning color aerial photographs, each paired with a definition, convey the impact of excessive development. This "engagingly organized and splendidly photographed" (Wall Street Journal) book provides the verbal and visual vocabulary needed by professionals, public officials, and citizens to critique uncontrolled growth in the American landscape.

75 color photographs
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  1. Print length
    128 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    June 17, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    8.1 x 0.6 x 7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393731987
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393731989
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[T]he images are fascinating and, in many cases, a frightening testament to human impact on the landscape."
― Ben Brain, Amateur Photographer

"A landmark contribution to this literature."
― Boston Globe

"You have to know what to call something before you can do anything about it. So if you really hate the way urban blight is despoiling virgin landscapes, take a look at this snappy pictorial guide to developer slang, US-style, which could rival Dr Seuss for verbal inventiveness."
― Civic Focus Magazine

"[T]he often beguiling beauty of sprawl photographed from the air."
― Nicholas A. Phelps, Environment & Planning B: Planning & Design

"A flair for words and a collection of stunning photographs. . . . Captivating."
― New Urban News

"May well establish Ms. Hayden as the Roger Tory Peterson of Sprawl."
― New York Times

"A concise guide to not only sprawl but to the powerful political and financial forces that sustain it."
― Publishers Weekly

"[P]rovides a great hawk’s-eye overview of exactly what uncontrolled growth has done to the American landscape…a must-read."
― The Statement

"Educational as well as humorous…a great stocking stuffer for the environmentalist in the family."
― Village Books Newsletter

"A wonderful guide to the terrible things being done to the American landscape."
― Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

About the Author

Dolores Hayden, professor of architecture and American studies at Yale, writes about the politics of design.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (June 17, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393731987
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393731989
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.1 x 0.6 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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Dolores Hayden

Dolores Hayden

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Dolores Hayden teaches popular courses on the American landscape at Yale University and has been the subject of features in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and on The Diane Rehm Show. A leading historian of American places and the politics of design, she has written six award-winning books that engage readers interested in how Americans have shaped their landscapes, towns, and buildings. Redesigning the American Dream received an American Library Association Notable Book Award for nonfiction.

Hayden is also a widely published poet. Her newest poetry collection is Nymph, Dun, and Spinner, published in November 2010.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
19 global ratings
The sprawl-buster's decoder book.
5 Stars
The sprawl-buster's decoder book.
Dolores Hayden's intriguing book visually decodes fifty-one examples of bad building in the landscape and the use of aerial photography to do this was a good idea, sprawl by its nature stretches off into the horizon but when seen at ground-level could seem pretty ordinary. Some of the differences though, especially with domestic dwellings, seem a bit arbitrary, there are seven examples of housing shown which, to me, don't seem that different. With commercial sprawl it is easy to understand the visual differences, from 'Rural slammer' (Soledad) to 'Tank farm' (part of the port of Houston)Though the book is primarily visual, with seventy-five well chosen aerial photos used to illustrate the categories, I thought the essay on the first ten pages was first class in explaining the reasons behind sprawl, basically the fault of those folk in Washington allowing commercial interests to favor suburban white populations and male-headed households during the last few decades. The back of the book has a useful bibliography, list of websites and index.Jim Wark's aerial photos were used by the author to carefully explain the categories and you can see several hundred other examples of his work in 'America' (ISBN 8854400033). If you like aerial photos have a look at Alex MacLean's book 'Designs on the Land' (ISBN 0500284148) with over four hundred stunning color photos of what is happening commercially on the ground.Though a large number of Americans live in the sprawl environment (and by choice, too) it is worth remembering that over ninety percent of the US is still open land. This fascinating book is a useful visual guide to how bad things can get.
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Top reviews from the United States

paullloydsargent
5.0 out of 5 stars It is a shame that producing a text like this may have relegated Hayden from "scholarly" to "popular" ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2015
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It is a shame that producing a text like this may have relegated Hayden from "scholarly" to "popular" thinker, as I love this kind of work. Her "Power of Place" remains a hugely influential and inspiring book to place/space-centric artists, planners, writers, etc. This is clearly a different kind of project: a field guide playing a bit of a game with the notion of ontology, typology, and empiricism in general. It is smart and engaging in a very different way than her prior texts. But academia is what it is and fun (or, all too often, creativity) is not its primary objective, ehh? Well, 'A Field Guide to Sprawl' is smart, creative, and fun (or as fun as looking at typologies of concrete, steel, plastic, and other materials stretched across the landscape can be). Another text that I share with students as we examine "media ecologies," "naturecultures," "first" and "second nature," and so forth. Hayden deserves her place in the history of "place."
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David
5.0 out of 5 stars Great little book
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2007
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The numerous color aerial photos in this book do a wonderful job of putting US development patterns into a whole new perspective. This isn't intended to be the end all be all of commentary about sprawl. For that, there are plenty of other great books that emphasize analysis and critique rather than a visual approach (A Better Way to Live is an example of a terrific book in the former category). This book is a great introduction to the different kinds of sprawl and what they look like. Sure, Dolores Hayden puts a fairly cynical touch on what commentary there is, but when you see the pictures of how developers have ruined our open spaces, you'll understand why. In short, a great little book that achieves its purpose very well.
2 people found this helpful
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Brent & Michelle
3.0 out of 5 stars [...]
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2012
This is a fun little book that defines 51 different aspects of urban sprawl. The author, Dolores Hayden, replaces the technical jargon of architects and urban planners with common terms like "snout house" "zoomburb" and "duck." She suggests that by using these simple terms people can identify sprawl in their own communities and thus better understand what causes it. While the terms in the book are unique and novel we doubt that we will be using them any time soon. While the terms are a bit difficult to put into use the ideas behind each term are great. This book introduced us to many aspects of sprawl that we may not otherwise have recognized. The book is a quick, easy read. Just as one would expect of a "field guide" each spread of pages defines a single term in alphabetical order, in one or two small paragraphs. Amazing aerial photographs compliment each term and paints a clear picture on each specific definition. The author wishes that everybody keep a copy of this book in their glove department (no doubt trying to bolster her sales) so that they next time you are experiencing "gridlock" you will quickly be able to find which aspect of sprawl is to blame. We do not see a need for everyone to buy this book although it is nice reference material. Our official recommendation is READ.
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Jenny Jenkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Sprawl: Coming to a neighborhood near you!
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2004
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If you have ever wondered what to call those cul-de-sacs that took the place of the dairy farm down the road, this field guide will finally give you the language to express yourself. With fascinating aerial photographs of all sorts of American sprawl, and interesting, to-the-point accompanying paragraphs, this field guide is a must to share with those neighbors of yours who lack the imagination to envision what will happen in their part of the woods (if the woods still exist) when subdividers come to town. (Naw, it's not happily ever after because the property taxes will increase revenue for the town.) Read this guide and you will never be content to leave the future of God's green earth in the hands of suburban planners again.
19 people found this helpful
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Barton Cramer
5.0 out of 5 stars A gem!
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2009
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This is a beautifully illustrated glossary of some of the terminology that has become associated with the phenomenon of suburban sprawl. Such inventive terms as "ball pork" and "snout house" are illustrated with superb photographs, and accompanied by concise written explanations and selected references to help the reader follow up on topics of interest. This is not a textbook for urban planners, who will already be familiar with the content, but I have effectively used material from this guide in my introductory urban planning classes, where the exemplary photographs speak louder than a thousand words.
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Stephen Balbach
4.0 out of 5 stars A Field Guide to Sprawl
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2006
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Small coffee-table format picture book. There is a 10-page introduction, which is excellent, then 51 vocabulary terms. Each vocab term is 2 pages - one page is an aerial example picture, the facing page is text describing the term. The terms are mostly pejorative (slang) and are critical of certain types of development. This is not "new" stuff many of these terms and criticisms go back to the 1940s. While some of the terms are obvious (strip malls, McMansions) much of it is not obvious and opens a whole new way of seeing why certain things are laid out the way they are. More so, it helps to predict how future development will happen based on current development patterns. This book is a layman's guide to development criticism. Should be required reading for all who live in a developing community.
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NW
5.0 out of 5 stars Great coffee table book - creates plenty of discussion
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2010
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Great coffee table book with humorous anecdotes and good pictures of what our man-made world has become in the last 60 years.
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sherry Fletcher
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2015
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Great book!
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