How is the structure of local governments relevant to inequality in the US?

Structure of Local Governments is Relevant to Inequality in the US
Rural development has affected the interest of many people and organizations.
"Metropolitan fragmentation," as it is often known, refers to a system in which cities are
encircled by suburban rings of numerous separate towns, villages, and other local
governments that overlap with counties and special districts; this is a pattern that is also
popular in the United States. Most debates on rural development tend to overlook the critical
link between it and the administrative system. As the United States' development philosophy
has evolved, one recurring theme has been searching for a grass-roots institutional strategy
that achieves the dual goals of strengthening participatory development at the local level
while also establishing local governments as key vehicles of local democracy and service
delivery. While the United States Constitution emphasizes the significance of local
government, a rich body of reform proposals has maintained the subject at the forefront of
public debate on the inequality facing the local government structure.
Even though local governments have both the resources and the ability to influence
urban education policy directly, regime theorists tend to undervalue the roles that governors,
federal legislatures leading to inequality in education. New Jersey State has taken over
schools in Newark to show why and how a local government may lead an urban education
regime (Benjamin & Nathan, 2001). When it comes to education, the instance of Newark
demonstrates how politics and structural constraints compelled the state government to alter
the character of the educational system and actively influence education policy at the
municipal level. It draws attention to the state government's role in restructuring an educator-
cantered alliance that was in charge of a low-performing public school system. In other cases,
they have fallen due to the federal-led system. Federal political actors retain their ability and
motive to join governing coalitions in metropolitan areas. Therefore, it is critical to
understand the role of the state government in such alliances that attributes to the inequality
in education.
Urban Sprawl is also cited for having negatively affected the local governments'
structure over the years leading to inequality. In addition to the many negative consequences
for residents and the environment, urban sprawl has many negative implications for human
health, including higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension, and chronic
diseases; higher rates of traffic fatalities and jams; loss of agricultural capacity; increased
reliance on automobiles; higher taxes; increased runoff into rivers and lakes; decreased social
capital; and loss of natural habitats, wildland fires, and wildlife (Benjamin & Nathan, 2001).
Urban sprawl is the expansion of poorly planned, low-density, auto-dependent development
that spreads out over large areas of land, putting long distances between homes, stores, and
places of employment and creating high segregation between residential and commercial
uses, all of which have negative consequences for the people who live in these areas as well
as the ecosystems and wildlife that have been displaced as a result of this development.
Many cities in the global south have witnessed a significant increase in their
inhabitants, resulting in fast and uncontrolled expansion increasing the gap between the rich
and the poor. According to Burns (2003), this is development at the request of developers
rather than development guided by sound policy. Land markets are being skewed, individuals
are being priced out of their homes, and informal settlements and regions without access to
essential transportation and infrastructure services are seeing considerable increases. Burns
(2003) points out that major work is necessary to guide growth in the global south in a more
sustainable direction, noting that development is harming agricultural areas, biodiversity
hotspots, vital wetlands, and urban flood plains, among other things.
The uncontrolled development associated with urban sprawl, particularly in urban flood
plains or near bodies of water, can worsen the damage caused by floods, monsoons,
hurricanes, and other weather patterns that are becoming more severe due to climate change.
Cities with higher incomes, particularly in China, have seen tremendous upward expansion,
as shown by the construction of new high-rises and skyscrapers (Grimmelikhuijsen &
Feeney, 2017). After some t