Buzbee William W
Emory Law School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2003 Sep;93(9):1395-9. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.9.1395.
Urban form, the law, and health are undoubtedly linked. However, nonlegal factors such as 20th-century reliance on the automobile as well as associated governmental actions and private investment choices have greatly influenced urban form, especially urban sprawl. The American system of federalism, with its traditional allocation of land-use legal authority to local governments, and resulting fragmented legal authority over causes and effects of urban sprawl, renders difficult legal efforts to reshape urban form. Legal frameworks and the dynamics and effects of urban sprawl are largely mismatched. Still, existing legal frameworks and modest legal reforms provide means to encourage or at least allow urban forms that are more conducive to health. However, the law will not easily transform urban form and deter urban sprawl.
城市形态、法律与健康无疑相互关联。然而，诸如20世纪对汽车的依赖以及相关的政府行动和私人投资选择等非法律因素，极大地影响了城市形态，尤其是城市扩张。美国的联邦制体系将土地使用法律权力传统上分配给地方政府，导致对城市扩张的成因和影响的法律权威分散，这使得重塑城市形态的法律努力变得困难。法律框架与城市扩张的动态和影响在很大程度上不匹配。尽管如此，现有的法律框架和适度的法律改革提供了鼓励或至少允许更有利于健康的城市形态的手段。然而，法律不会轻易改变城市形态并遏制城市扩张。
