The planning of exurban America: lessons from Frank Lloyd Wright's Broadacre City

This article offers a framework for considering Broadacre City in the context of accommodating the contemporary demand for exurban development. The article contains: a review of the Broadacre City philosophy, principal design features, and contemporary limitations; a review of the rise of exurbia in part as a quest by millions of people for fulfillment of the Broadacre City philosophy but without benefit of having Broadacre Cities in which to move; some discussion on how exurbanization can be accommodated by a system of Broadacre Cities through modifications to Wright's original scheme and by properly relating Broadacre Cities to urban centers and edge cities; an outline for policies that can be used to guide development of Broadacre City; and a challenge to government at all levels to pursue Broadacre City as an alternative to exurban sprawl. An appendix offers the principal advantages of Broadacre City over neo-traditional development as a way to manage exurbanization. -Author