The Social Severance Effects of Major Urban Roads

Abstract

It is by now generally known that careful consideration is being given in this country to possible procedures for assessing the impact upon the environment of large scale and complex developments, such as airports, power stations, chemical works or gravel pits. Such procedures exist already in France, Sweden, New South Wales and, notably, in the United States, In the latter case, the National Environmental Policy Act 1969 requires that whenever developments at the Federal level are likely to significantly affect the quality of the human environment, there shall be prepared an Environmental Impact Statement which sets out in detail the nature of the action, any unavoidable adverse consequences, the relationship between short term and long term exploitation of the environment, any irretrievable commitments of resources involved and, finally, possible alternatives to the proposed action.