Sprawl is failing. It has underperformed for a long time, but its collapse became obvious with the 2008-2010 financial meltdown that magnified the problems of its failure. Building more sprawl cannot continue for a lack of capital and the failure of the financial instruments that enabled its proliferation. To abandon existing sprawl will not be possible either, as the expanse represents a vast investment of money, infrastructure, time, human energy, and dreams. Our existing physical environment offers opportunities for reuse, and cannot be simply discarded or demolished.

The only reasonable option is to repair sprawl----to deal with it straight on, by finding ways to reuse and reorganize as much of it as possible into complete, livable, robust communities. Pragmatism calls for repair through redevelopment into viable human-scale settlements----places that are walkable, with mixes of uses and transportation options. Realistically, portions of sprawl are likely to remain in their current state, while others may devolve, reverting to agriculture or nature.

There are several examples from urban history that show successful transformations of existing rural patterns "on the edges" into more urban and resilient environments. Camillo Sitte's work in the late 19th century demonstrates the redevelopment of rural hamlets into the next sequence of urbanism, denser urban villages. Sensitive treatment kept most trajectories of existing rural roads, maintaining traces of the land and wisdom of the first settlers. He also respected most of the property lines by subdividing the plots parallel to these lines. The result was complex and picturesque urbanism in contrast to the Beaux-Arts grand gestures prevalent at that time that cut bold diagonals and formal public spaces through the existing fabric to achieve direct terminations and symmetry.

Other examples of generational transformation of human settlements are the "bulwarks," or fortification walls, around many European cities. When these defense installations became obsolete they were often redeveloped into grand perimeter boulevards, such as the Ringstrasse in Vienna pictured below, to be used not only for circulation but also as eminent public spaces accommodating civic buildings and parks.  

These examples are among many others that can give us confidence that any human-built artifact, including sprawl, can be redeemed through reuse and restructuring. The past six decades in American planning have achieved a dramatic transformation from compact and walkable environments into car-oriented, single-use sprawling patterns. We are starting to see a transitioning back to walkable, diverse and human-scale communities.  

Sprawl has been aggressively promoted and encouraged, and the approach to repair must be the same. The operational and maintenance costs for existing sprawl are rising, straining stretched government finances. New development that pays for these costs is difficult because capital is scarce, credit is expensive, and energy costs are growing.  

Sprawl repair is possible via comprehensive urban design, regulation, and strategies for funding and incentives----the same instruments that made sprawl the prevalent form of development. Effective repair addresses all urban scales----region, community, building----identifying potential transportation networks and creating transit-connected urban cores, transforming dead malls into town centers, and reconfiguring conventional suburban blocks into walkable fabric. Rather than the instant and total overhaul of communities, as promoted so destructively in American cities half a century ago, incremental and opportunistic improvement is key. 

The use of the Transect is essential for sprawl repair because it provides the framework for re-balancing and diversifying the mono-cultural environment of single-use zoning. Use of the Transect provides variety not only in the practical sense of additional uses and building types, but also in other parts of the physical environment through a variety of setbacks, a range of frontage conditions, building heights, etc. Through deliberate design, Transect-based zoning produces places of distinct character, creates landmarks, and delineates recognizable streets and public spaces.

Sprawl may be aesthetically pleasing, even elegant, especially in the third-generation, well-manicured and well-managed incarnations of gated communities. However, it obliterates the diversity----or even messiness----that is intrinsic to real urbanism. By introducing the Transect, we can incorporate the existing sprawl elements, but embed them in a wider palette of urban fabric, experiences, geometries, and relationships between man-made and natural entities. The new system of zoning provides gradients of complexity and organic character based on a rural-to-urban continuum.

That complexity and organic character, by the way, can also be very useful in adapting to changing economic conditions. Transect-based zoning provides flexibility by exchanging larger, inflexible parcels and building types with smaller and more affordable varieties whenever the need arises. The wider choices accommodate different people, incomes, and ages, and helps a community get ready for the future.