The Aftereffects of Annexation - A Case Study

Because of the post World War II population growth, the steady shift of our country’s people from rural areas to urban centers, and seemingly irreversible agonies of congestion, urban sprawl and deterioration, responsible City Governments are obliged to exercise whatever means are available to them to protect the quality of their immediate environment as well as to secure material for orderly future growth, additional land area. In very few cases has State Government proven itself able and free to remedy problems of uncontrolled urban growth once they exist. Accordingly, the City must be its own defender. Where state law does not provide the municipality with controls for zoning and development of abutting lands about its periphery, annexation is one positive means for acquiring necessary protective authority. This case history deals with political, financial, legal, inter-jurisdictional, urban planning, and other problems which confronted Oklahoma City in its successful effort to protect its future and the future of its service commitments.