As US towns sprawl into the countryside, creating anonymous zones dominated by soulless malls, one of Britain’s leading historians asks if it could happen here. “Traditionally, British policymakers are all too easily drawn to American innovations. But, my time in Phoenix has shown the United States pursuing a model we desperately need to avoid: depopulating downtowns, ravaged countryside, unsustainable energy consumption, social and racial segmentation and a sprawling exurbia that is retreating unrelentingly into the future. ”