Urban Sprawl (1960)
1960 · Ephemeral film · 15 min
- Documentary
- Short
Synopsis
High-angle pan over new suburban home development. Pan over vast area of suburban houses, audio track �vast sea of houses created by this explosion of the urban population expands outwards in endless ways.� busy highway in 1950s to 1960s; freshly paved highway, tract housing along highway. Tractors on construction site for new tract housing project; audio track �man with his modern machines is consuming land at a frightening rate.� Great shot of bulldozer taking down a fruit tree. Hay stacks in foreground of pan over construction site for new suburban housing project. Construction site being cleared in rugged hillside area for housing. Great shot of terraced lots for houses on hillside, audio track �the terraced lots stand like giant stairs steps awaiting the onward rush of urban sprawl.� 1950s to 1960s construction worker using antique foot operated mechanical nailer; men building mass-produced homes; Hispanic men pouring concrete; cranes setting in place giants pieces of new pipeline. 3 huge reel of electrical wire for pour lines; electricians in stalling power lines; men installing telephone cables. kid playing on swing between two houses, wood frames of unfinished houses behind him. Pan over 1950s to 1960s strip mall. billboard alongside highway with arrow pointing toward Tropicana Village 10000 New Homes; large billboard sign with arrow �Right Turn Here Pacific Gardens.� Pan over suburban sprawl possibly Santa Clara, California. abandoned or neglected buildings in…
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 15 minutes
- Collection
- Prelinger Archives
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★ · Sprawl! · Dodsworth the Cat · 2025-10-29
People need a place to live, and you've got to put them somewhere. This film accepts that reality, but its solutions are like moving pieces on a chess board. In the end, it's the same square you're dealing with. Since this film was made, all its proposals have been tried. Are we any better off? About all that's changed is the houses in those suburbs have been torn down and replaced with condos to fit in more people.