Which statement best describes the urban impact of green belts?

• A. Development is unrestricted around cities, encouraging suburban expansion.
• B. Green belts restrict development to contain sprawl and preserve rural land, influencing housing prices and inner-city density.
• C. They have no impact on inner-city density.
• D. They primarily serve as industrial zones.

Answer: (B)

Green belts are a planning tool that frames where growth can occur by creating a protected ring around a city. They are designed to limit outward expansion, preserving rural and agricultural land and preventing sprawl into the countryside. Because development is kept from spreading outward, land inside the belt becomes relatively more scarce, which tends to push housing demand and influence prices upward, while encouraging higher density development within the urban core or close-in suburbs. This combination of restricting expansion and concentrating growth inside the belt is what shapes inner-city density and helps explain how the urban form changes near cities. The other options miss the purpose or effects: unrestricted development around cities, no impact on inner-city density, or belts serving mainly as industrial zones.