What is land-use leakage, and which option best describes it?

• A. Spillover growth from high-density zones into peripheral areas due to growth controls.
• B. A boundary that restricts outward growth to preserve farmland.
• C. A boundary used to promote rural development.
• D. A boundary used to separate residential from commercial zones.

Answer: (A)

Land-use leakage happens when growth is restricted in central, high-density areas, so expansion shifts to surrounding peripheral lands. Growth controls or density limits in the core push development outward, causing spillover into nearby zones. That idea—growth spilling over from dense urban cores into outer areas due to controls—best captures leakage.

The other descriptions describe tools or boundaries aimed at containing growth (like preserving farmland or limiting outward expansion) or boundaries that separate uses inside a city (like residential vs. commercial). They describe either containment or internal zoning, not the outward spillover that defines leakage.