New documentary analyzes urban planning and diminishing oil supply

In a new documentary, Bill Clinton and Michael Dukakis, as well as architecture and energy experts, discuss the problems caused by suburbanization and horizontal development. The DVD, Sprawling From Grace, which will be released on April 21, looks at the pollution, health-risks and decreased quality of life caused by suburbanization.

While the DVD may focus on awareness of the problems, the documentary's website features a blog that has informative and solution-focused articles about many of urbanization's attendant issues, from small gardens to privatization of mass transit to billboards. The bottom line between both the DVD and the website's articles is that the our current oil-dependent, polluting, traffic-jam-inducing system is largely a product of neglect. The solution will require a well-informed, actively engaged public.

Living in a very urbanized area of California - where I see multiple accidents a week on my commutes - the message of Sprawling from Grace hits home. However, I have visited countries that successfully negotiate issues of overpopulation and transportation. Countries like Japan. These are problems that can be solved by people willing to research and invest in long-term solutions rather than more immediate, highway-widening fixes. But the first step is awareness of the problem.

For more information, vist sprawlingfromgrace.com.