LUTHER GULICK 129 



terns that the real dangers of floods both to life and to the transpor- 

 tational and economic structure rise to the point of demanding action. 

 There were floods on the Ohio, the Tennessee, the Connecticut and 

 the Allegheny for thousands of years before Europeans reached their 

 banks and built cities in their flood plains. Even on the Mississippi, 

 was it not primarily the building of cities which turned the natural 

 flooding into a "problem"? While this is less true of erosion, per- 

 haps, we must not forget that the silting of water reservoirs is already 

 becoming a matter of concern to the cities, and that urban costs of 

 living will be directly affected by any major impoverishment of our 

 agricultural land resources. This, however, I class as a general na- 

 tional problem rather than one which is created by urbanization. 

 The erosion of beaches, however, is a direct city problem. It is pri- 

 marily the urbanites who make the shore so valuable. 



The combined resource impacts. Looking at these various im- 

 pacts together, I think it can be demonstrated that the pattern of 

 human settlement known as "urbanization" brings on a higher and 

 different drain on national resources than is involved in a nonurban 

 pattern of life. Those who make resource projections and draw con- 

 servation programs need to have this in mind. 



The new pressures which are shown in all the projections arise 

 not alone from population growth, not alone from higher consump- 

 tion standards, but also from the new pattern of settlement and life, 

 that is, from urbanism. 



This is certainly clear as to water resources, air and water pollu- 

 tion, mass rubbish dumps, energy consumption, flood control, re- 

 sources required to meet the higher standards of urban folk, the pro- 

 vision of open spaces for recreation and relaxation, and particularly 

 land use. 



While there is on this continent plenty of suitable land to meet all 

 our urban requirements for the foreseeable future, and to meet our 

 agricultural needs also, the formless and unrestrained explosion of 

 the urban regions into the countryside now going on, and the growing 

 needs of urban populations for other land resources, as for watersheds, 

 transportation avenues and air terminals, and for recreation, green- 

 belts and open spaces, make us now take a new hard look at land as a 

 resource in relation to urbanization. 



