The author describes urban zones as areas where commodities and services are consumed on a massive scale. U.S. cities are particularly configured to maximize consumption. This is because of their highly sprawled form. U.S. cities are so sprawled because of the influence of local growth coalitions, made up of large land holders and developers, as well as of local economic interests that benefit from an expanding local consumer base. More decisive in creating urban sprawl in the U.S. is the fact that during the 1920s and leading into the Great Depression, the U.S. had an abundance of capital and an industrial base geared toward the production of consumer durables, especially automobiles. Urban sprawl was the means to absorb this excess capital and the output of U.S. productive capacity. The analysis put forward here is consistent with the business dominance view of public policymaking. Moreover, this work demonstrates that historical analysis can have significant explanatory power with regard to contemporary and ongoing political phenomena.

University of Southern California, 1997. Dr Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami. He teaches in the areas of American Politics, public policy, and environmental politics and policy. He is the author of Corporate Power and the Environment (2001; Rowman & Littlefield) and The Politics of Air Pollution (2005; SUNY Press). Additionally, Professor Gonzalez is co-editor of Flashpoints in Environmental Policymaking, which won the 1998 Lynton K. Caldwell book award, given by the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy section of the American Political Science Association. Moreover, he has published articles in the journals of Polity, Studies in American Political Development, Environmental Politics and Public Integrity.