Urban sprawl: Theory and practice

Urban sprawl is among the most debated topics in the field of urbanism, regional science, ecology, economics, and geography. As this process involves different analysis' dimensions, sprawl is fascinating on the one side, but quite difficult to investigate on the other side. Having the objective to review the nature, dynamics, and consequences that low-density urban expansion is having on biophysical environments, this contribution provides a brief picture on the relationship between urban sprawl and environment quality with a focus on Europe. It is assumed that environmental change and urban transitions are progressively threatening peri-urban and rural landscape leading to worse socio-ecological conditions hard to manage with traditional planning instruments. Literature supports the idea that environmental policy and spatial planning should cope more effectively with the increasing vulnerability of “sprawling” urban regions to natural hazards.