Exurban dynamics: An analysis of migration, policy, and territorial scale

The exurban literature is both scarce and disparate. In an effort to address these issues, this dissertation analyzes exurbia through four dimensions. The first is the measurement of the rates of exurban migration in larger metropolitan areas over a twenty-year period from 1984 to 2005. Second, the amount of income transferring between the urban and exurban spatial forms is examined between 1996 and 2005. Third, current urban containment policies are examined for their effectiveness in reducing this specific type of migration. Fourth, the metropolitan reform literature has conjectured on the ability of large-scale governance structures to reduce outward migration from core areas via improvement of social and economic conditions. Their postulations when juxtaposed with public choice theory present additional theoretical questions, however. Based on these questions, this study tests for the effects of large-scale governance structures on the rate and fiscal impact of exurban migration.;This dissertation is divided into five chapters. The first introduces exurbia and lays the framework for the chapters that follow. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on the development of urban areas in the United States, sprawl, urban containment strategies and territorial scale. Chapter 3 details the specific research questions and their respective hypotheses. Furthermore, the chapter specifies the data and statistical methods utilized throughout. In Chapter 4, the results of the analyses relating to migration, policy and territorial scale effects are presented. In the fifth and final chapter, the conclusions reached including policy recommendations and theoretical additions to the literature are discussed. The results demonstrate exurban migration is an uneven process that varies considerably by region both in its rates and in fiscal impact. Current public policies designed to limit the size of urban areas vary in their effectiveness in reducing exurban migration. These effects are negated by rising household incomes, however. Lastly, large-scale governance structures exhibit no effect on both the rates and fiscal impact of exurban migration.