<P> Critics of sprawl maintain that sprawl erodes quality of life . Duany and Plater - Zyberk believe that in traditional neighborhoods the nearness of the workplace to retail and restaurant space that provides cafes and convenience stores with daytime customers is an essential component to the successful balance of urban life . Furthermore, they state that the closeness of the workplace to homes also gives people the option of walking or riding a bicycle to work or school and that without this kind of interaction between the different components of life the urban pattern quickly falls apart . James Howard Kunstler has argued that poor aesthetics in suburban environments make them "places not worth caring about", and that they lack a sense of history and identity . </P> <P> Urban sprawl has class and racial implications in many parts of the world; the relative homogeneity of many sprawl developments may reinforce class and racial divides through residential segregation . </P> <P> Numerous studies link increased population density with increased aggression . Some people believe that increased population density encourages crime and anti-social behavior . It is argued that human beings, while social animals, need significant amounts of social space or they become agitated and aggressive . However, the relationship between higher densities and increased social pathology has been largely discredited . </P> <P> According to Nancy Chin, a large number of effects of sprawl have been discussed in the academic literature in some detail; however, the most contentious issues can be reduced "to an older set of arguments, between those advocating a planning approach and those advocating the efficiency of the market ." Those who criticize sprawl tend to argue that sprawl creates more problems than it solves and should be more heavily regulated, while proponents argue that markets are producing the economically most efficient settlements possible in most situations, even if problems may exist . However, some market oriented commentators believe that the current patterns of sprawl are in fact the result of distortions of the free market . Chin cautions that there is a lack of "reliable empirical evidence to support the arguments made either for or against sprawl ." She mentions that the lack of a common definition, the need for more quantitative measures "a broader view both in time and space, and greater comparison with alternative urban forms" would be necessary to draw firmer conclusions and conduct more fruitful debates . </P>

Compared to the united kingdom the amount of sprawl in the us is