This study investigates whether income inequality is related to sprawl and wellbeing in American cities. The results do not provide evidence to support the role of income inequality as a mediator of the link between sprawl and well-being. Instead, the results tell a more nuanced story. Specifically, they indicate that consistent with a priori expectations, lower levels of sprawl are, on average, associated with lower levels of income inequality. Additionally, lower levels of sprawl correspond to higher levels of financial well-being. Supplementary investigation into this finding reveals that this disguises a very different experience among Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with higher levels of financial wellbeing, in which lower sprawl corresponds more strongly to higher levels of financial well-being. While the evidence is not unimpeachable, these findings lend some support to conventional anti-sprawl urban planning wisdom for American cities.

Journal

• Cities

Authors:

• Wen Hao Lee
• Christopher Ambrey
• Dorina Pojani

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