URBAN SPRAWL AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Urban sprawl is among the most debated topics in the field of urbanism, environmental sciences, ecology, economics, and geography. As urban sprawl involves different subjects of study, this phenomenon is extremely fascinating on the one side, but very complex and difficult to analyze on the other side. For this reason, sprawl has and is attracting the interest of many researchers from all over the world, having the objective to define the nature, dynamics and consequences that the process of low-density urban expansion is having on the biophysical and socioeconomic environment. The aim of this review is to provide a brief picture on the nature of the relationship existing between sprawl and the environment with special attention to Europe. The growing environmental vulnerability of the European urban regions was discussed according to a bibliographic survey based on quali-quantitative studies. Evidence support the idea that environmental policy and regional planning should cope more effectively with the increasing vulnerability of “shrinking” urban regions to natural hazards.

Keywords

• urban sprawl
• regional geography
• land consumption
• indicators
• europe