For the planner or the architect to ignore the currents that are shaping the city is clearly futile. The Gauteng extended metropolitan region, for example, is rapidly approaching the size of the developing world's megacities, which are characterised by populations of ten million and above. Proposals for the Content of A Spatial Development Framework for the Cape Metropolitan Area, Town Planning Branch, City Planner's Department, Cape Town City Council, September 1994. Sprawl is notoriously difficult to define. Arthur C. Nelson, letter to Planning, September 1994, p.33.
Sprawl is like cholesterol.
There is bad sprawl and good sprawl. Its effects depend on the designers, planners, developers and public officials involved. As with cholesterol, moderation is the key. The issue is not whether should be dispersed or not - but whether it is ecologically sound. Both high and low-density settlements are possible, and probably desirable, if done with quality, equity, and environmental sensitivity.