University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Urban Studies Senior Seminar Papers Urban Studies Program 4-15-2011 How to Implement an Urban Growth Area without Really Requiring (It): Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voluntary Urban Growth Areas Frank Weber University of Pennslyvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/senior_seminar Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Weber, Frank, "How to Implement an Urban Growth Area without Really Requiring (It): Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voluntary Urban Growth Areas" (2011). Urban Studies Senior Seminar Papers. 15. https://repository.upenn.edu/senior_seminar/15 Suggested Citation: Weber, Frank. "How to Implement an Urban Growth Area without Really Requiring (It): Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voluntary Urban Growth Areas" University of Pennsylvania, Urban Studies Program. 2011. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/senior_seminar/15 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. How to Implement an Urban Growth Area without Really Requiring (It): Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voluntary Urban Growth Areas Abstract Lancaster County, Pennsylvania uses urban growth areas (UGAs) to prevent the loss of its productive farmland to suburban sprawl. In contrast to other areas that have implemented UGAs, the county government cannot force its municipalities to adopt UGAs, since Pennsylvania reserves all land use regulatory power for its individual municipalities. This paper will explore whether UGAs can be instituted