Who Invented the Concept of Urban Sprawl?

Michael Barone explains:

Where does the idea that sprawl originated in post-World War II America come from? From New York-centric writers, I think. They observed that the empty potato fields of Nassau County started filling up with suburbs, like the original Levittown, right after World War II. New York-centrics tend to think all cities are like New York, where most people live in apartments and very many never drive a car. But of course New York is the exception, not the rule, not just in America but in most of the world. And the postwar suburban development in metro New York was especially rapid, since there hadn't been much housing built in the 15 years before 1945.

New York doesn't seem to be the cutting edge of much.Heh,the nation's largest city doesn't even have the nation's largest retailer.