Adrian X. Esparza

A Revisionist Model of Suburbanization and Sprawl The Role of Political Fragmentation, Growth Control, and Spillovers

This article proposes a process-based conceptual model that explains sprawl in the United States since the 1970s. In contrast to traditional explanations that look to “natural,” or ecological, processes, our explanation of sprawl focuses on the local regulatory environment and the ways in which residents and homebuilders respond to it. We look at the way in which growth controls—given fragmentation—produce “spillovers” and whether spillovers have been a principal force (process) fueling suburbanization and exurbanization in recent decades. Although the role of spillovers has received some attention recently, few scholars have launched comprehensive analyses of its impact on the contemporary urban landscape. Our spillovers-based explanation of sprawl will likely hold for metropolitan regions in which growth management/control has been imposed in the absence of statewide or regionwide coordination.

The Spatial Extent of Producer Service Markets: Hierarchical Models of Interaction Revisited

The traditional view of interaction in spatial markets has been challenged by recent studies of producer service trade in the space economy. These studies find that although city-size and distance influence the direction and spatial extent of interaction, patterns of trade oftentimes counter expectations as trade flows up the urban hierarchy and across large distances. This paper seeks to determine whether the ownership structure of establishments contributes to deviations from the traditional model of hierarchical interaction. Using trade data obtained from surveys of 547 producer service establishments, patterns of trade originating from a five-tier urban hierarchy are examined empirically and evaluated using spatial survivor functions and logit models. The results indicate that the ownership structure of establishments contributes significantly to deviations from expected patterns of interaction. Independently owned establishments have smaller spatial markets and interact more often with smaller sized cities. Nonindependently owned establishments, in contrast, trade down and up the urban hierarchy in a manner much less sensitive to distance.

Localized effects of globalization: the case of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

This paper explores how the rise of global industrialization has altered the internal complexion of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the largest and fastest growing of Mexicos northern border cities. First, we trace the political-economic history of Ciudad Juárez and other northern Mexican border cities in order to understand the context of rapid industrialization. Second, we document the dimensions of industrialization by tracing historic trends in population growth, industrial employment, and land-use change. Third, a deprivation index is developed to evaluate the effects of industrialization on quality-of-life at the neighborhood scale in Ciudad Juárez. Deprivation indices are calculated for 266 AGEBs (Mexican geostatistical districts) for the years 1990 and 1995, and changes in levels of deprivation are monitored over time. The analyses show that Ciudad Juárez has experienced unprecedented growth that altered the form, function, and social complexion of the city.

City Systems and Industrial Market Structure

Industrial geographers are broadening both the scope and scale of analyses in their quest for deeper understanding of industrial formation and evolution. This has led them to link industrial processes at various spatial scales and to revisit well-defined organizational structures, especially city systems. Taking stock of renewed interest, this paper investigates the relationship between urban regional systems and industrial market structure. The paper demonstrates that the U.S. is composed of urban regional systems that vary in density of urban settlement, and argues that dynamic externalities and barriers to market entry and exit play out within these distinct systems to develop regionalized industry market structures that range from competitive to oligopolistic. An empirical analysis identifies these market structures through use of a Hildreth-Houck variable-coefficients model. Elasticity-of-scale estimates are derived for thirteen consumer and producer services industries at the MSA scale, using 1982 and 1992County Business Patterns data. The results reveal a systematic geography of industry structure generally supportive of the hypotheses linking density of urban settlement to industry market structure. Producer services industries in the western U.S. tend toward oligopolistic market structures, while those in the more densely settled midwest and east are more competitive.

The Planner¿s Guide to Natural Resource Conservation:

Exurbanization occurs on privately owned lands that are found beyond the metropolitan fringe and outside the jurisdiction of federal and state lands held in the public trust. This chapter describes exurban land development from the perspective of Aldo Leopold’s human–land community. It uses a historical approach to explain why Leopold’s human–land community never materialized and how this framed the country’s relationship with land from its founding through the recent era of exurban land development. Issues covered include urbanization, the rise of regional planning, consumerism, conservation and preservation movements, federal land policies, and the causes of exurbanization.

Undocumented Immigrants and Quality of Life in New Mexico and Arizona Colonias

Abstract Recent legislation aims to stop the northward flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States by creating amnesty and formal guest worker programs and by increasing the “deterrent effect” at the border. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) contained similar policies, and subsequent research tells us much about what to expect from proposed “reforms.” However, virtually no research has considered how immigration reforms have played out at the local level. This holds especially for colonias that line the border from Texas to California. We respond to this deficiency by examining how the 1986 IRCA affected undocumented immigration and quality of life in unincorporated colonias of Arizona and New Mexico. We find that the IRCA legislation did little to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants to Arizona and New Mexico colonias and led the rise of deprivation.

Exurbanization and Aldo Leopold’s Human–Land Community

Exurbanization occurs on privately owned lands that are found beyond the metropolitan fringe and outside the jurisdiction of federal and state lands held in the public trust. This chapter describes exurban land development from the perspective of Aldo Leopold’s human–land community. It uses a historical approach to explain why Leopold’s human–land community never materialized and how this framed the country’s relationship with land from its founding through the recent era of exurban land development. Issues covered include urbanization, the rise of regional planning, consumerism, conservation and preservation movements, federal land policies, and the causes of exurbanization.

Perspectives on U.S. ‐ Mexico border Colonias: A special volume of the journal of borderlands studies

The U.S.-Mexico borderlands have been the focus of research for many years, with themes and topics as varied and diverse as the border region itself. The Journal of Borderlands Studies has played a vital role in the dissemination of this research, and scholars and readers owe much to the journals singular focus on borderlands studies across the globe. With this special volume, the JBS once again demonstrates its commitment to bringing forward critical issues that apply to borderlands. We have assembled an impressive collection of articles that explore the dimensions of colonias in the southwest U.S. and northern Mexico. Here we introduce colonias to a broad audience that may know less about them, and explain why they warrant a special volume.