Sprawl is as much a matter of regimentation as of anarchy. Since World War Two federal mortgage guarantees have subsidized home building by taking much of the risk out of buying a new home. Home ownership is undeniably a good thing, but these well-meaning incentives fostered sprawl. The pipe that gets laid and the asphalt that gets poured to equip new suburban neighborhoods is another freebie, subsidized by the tax base in the older, more compact parts of town. Ubiquitous zoning laws made life more pleasant when they separated houses from soot-belching factories and stinking slaughterhouses.
Engineers design towns according to stringent codes that favor cars over people.
Residents who want to build something livable get sued. Everyone lives on a highway. In short, Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck claim that sprawl is the product not of the free market but of vested interests, central planners, and intrusive government. We've thus misunderstood the battle over suburban development. If this reading is correct, then new opportunities should be opening up for adventurous politicians.