What describes the trend of moving commerce and industry to the outskirts of a city?

The trend of moving commerce and industry to the outskirts of a city is best described as urban sprawl. This phenomenon occurs when cities expand outward into rural areas, resulting in the development of new residential zones, shopping centers, and industrial parks. Urban sprawl often leads to a spread of people and businesses away from the city center, typically driven by the search for more space, lower costs, and increased quality of life away from congested urban environments.

While suburbanization is related, it primarily refers to the growth of residential areas specifically surrounding a city, rather than the broader trend that includes commerce and industry. Decentralization usually refers to the distribution of administrative functions away from a central location and might include a variety of shifts within governance and business sectors, rather than focusing specifically on spatial movement. Rural migration involves people moving from rural to urban areas, which is the opposite of moving industry outward. Thus, urban sprawl accurately captures the process of relocating various functions of cities to less densely populated, outer areas.