A Political Ecology of Exurbia in the Sunbelt: Lessons from an Award-Winning, “Unworkable” Plan

Abstract

Sarasota County, Florida's award-winning Sarasota 2050 plan established the county as a leader in smart growth. The plan promotes a system of clustered development and open space as an alternative to sprawl beyond Sarasota's growth boundary. Although adopted in 2002, by 2011, no projects had broken ground under the plan, which critics deemed "unworkable." This article presents a case study of exurban political ecology in Sarasota to provide insight into the derailment of a promising strategy for managing exurban growth. Sarasota 2050's policies were undermined by extra-local factors, including the recession and reduced state oversight of planning, and by incompatible policy agendas pursued by local interest groups. Also problematic was the plan's cluster approach-a spatial strategy that rationalizes large landowner, planning, and conservation interests, but does little to address rural restructuring. The case points to the need for new planning strategies that mediate competing interests in exurbia.

Tracking Urbanization and Exurbs: Migration Across the Rural–Urban Continuum, 1990–2016

“…These distinctions are worthy of closer-scale examination of potential explanations, for example policies that reduce barriers for newcomers (Schleicher 2017), and the impacts of newcomers on land use and future development (Linkous 2019).…”

“…Of course, synergy between physical climate and economic climate helps drive moves to the South and West, especially given the spin-off effects of tourism and recreation (Day and Barlett 2000). Synergy between urban and rural locales provides equally important context for understanding exurban migration nationally, and particularly in these fast growing regions (Berube et al 2006;Linkous 2019).…”

Growth Management Effectiveness: A Literature Review

“…An UGB a la Portland, or a greenbelt a la Boulder, or a rezoning that limits development in one spot may cause it to leapfrog to a less desirable location. Sarasota's five-acre ranchettes outside its urban growth boundary is the worst kind of sprawl (Linkous 2019). Are growth management tools effective in fostering compact development?…”