Urban Sprawl Patterns Research Articles

Urban Sprawl and its effect on Sustainable Urban Development: A Case Study of Shimla City

A fast-growing developing country like India is witnessing the phenomena of Urban Sprawl and land-use changes in almost all of its megacities which are the epicenters of economic growth, administration, and tourism prospects. The proximity to the growth center, availability of space, and increasing migration mainly lead to the gradual spreading of the urban landscape towards its adjacent regions, resulting in the loss of productive and agricultural lands, open green spaces, and surface water bodies. Considering the speed of urban sprawl growth rate, the city's scale and role have changed frequently. Thus, there is a need to study, surveil, and quantify the urban sprawl for sustainable development of the urban areas. The current study examines the importance of sustainable urban development, which seeks to create cities and towns to improve the long-term health of the planet's human beings and ecological systems. The main focus of this paper is to illustrate the analytical approach and challenges resulting from increasing population growth that has created a need for high-performing, cost-effective, resource-efficient, and environmentally friendly sustainable infrastructure. The task comprises steps delineation of urban area for consecutive years, comparison between urban areas, identification of the urban sprawl pattern, recognition of magnitude and direction of changing sprawl, and its effect on land use/land cover.

Diversity in global urban sprawl patterns revealed by Zipfian dynamics

ABSTRACT Zipf’s law, characterizing the rank-size distribution of city size or population, has been widely applied in urban studies. Previous studies on Zipf’s law mainly focused on the spatial dimension of urban size and population, with limited consideration of its temporal dynamics. Here, we proposed a conceptual model to characterize the spatial sprawl pattern of urban clusters using the approach of Zipf’s law and approximately 30-year time series of global urban extent data. First, we quantified increments of urban areas in global megacities and small settlements over the past three decades. Urban sprawl patterns (i.e., equilibrium, diffuse, and aggregated) were revealed from the Zipfian dynamics, using the proposed conceptual model. Then, we characterized urban sprawl patterns at different spatial scales. Overall, the sprawl of small urban clusters is slightly faster than those of large clusters globally. At the continental scale, the sprawl pattern shows equilibrium patterns in Asia and Africa, whereas other continents mainly present diffuse sprawl patterns. In general, for developing regions (e.g., North and West Africa), an aggregated sprawl pattern was observed, whereas, for those highly developed regions (e.g., Canada and West Europe), the diffuse sprawl pattern dominated. Patterns of urban sprawl revealed in this study reflect different growth rates of varying sizes of urban clusters, advancing our understanding of urban development pathways. The relatively robust performance of Zipf’s law over multiple spatial and temporal dimensions suggests the self-organized mechanism of city evolution behind urban sprawl, which contributes to the development of future urban growth models.

Freight Transport Cost and Urban Sprawl across EU Regions

This paper investigates the impact that urban sprawl and land use patterns have on freight transport costs at the regional level in Europe. A unique dataset is employed, which distinguishes various aspects of freight transport costs across EU regions. The measurement of sprawl metrics is based on the European soil sealing (artificial land cover) data concerning the land uptake for buildings and related infrastructure, as well as land use data originating from the Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey of Eurostat. The econometric analysis indicates that both the increased scale and compact development of land for urban settlement and specific (industrial, services/residential) activities can significantly reduce average road freight transport costs. The increased land use mixture and the share of industrial activity also have a negative impact on road freight transport costs. The results highlight the importance of integrated spatial/land use planning policies to manage freight transport costs and improve the sustainable urban development of EU regions.

A Study of Land Function Conversion and Urban sprawl Patterns in Sokaraja Banyumas Regency

Urban sprawl is a phenomenon of the unplanned physical appearance spread in the city due to the rapid development of the city. The limited availability of land triggers its development to extend to the suburbs which causes land conversion. This phenomenon occurs due to the development of the city which continues to grow but has limited space. This study aimed to spatially examine land-use conversion and urban sprawl patterns in Sokaraja as a WPU (peri-urban area) from Purwokerto and its close distance to Purbalingga City. This study used a qualitative descriptive method to analyze land-use conversion and urban sprawl patterns using built-up area indicators including settlements and places of activity, agricultural land, and road network. The study was conducted on land use spread over 18 urban villages. Remote sensing analysis with image interpretation of the ArcGIS 10.6 software application was used to review four-time series, namely 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019. The results of the study found that in a span of 14 years there had been a land conversion in Sokaraja subdistrict. This is evidenced by the increase of the building area which includes settlements and places of activity by 261,991 Ha (8,901%) and followed by a decrease in the area of agricultural land by 261,991 Ha (8,901%). The urban sprawl pattern found is a combination of leapfrog development and ribbon development.

Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Urban Sprawl in China

Urban sprawl is a complex phenomenon related to abnormal urbanization, and it has become a key issue of global concern. This study aimed to measure urban sprawl in China and explore its spatiotemporal patterns and driving factors. Based on 343 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above, remote sensing-derived data from 2000 to 2017 were used to calculate the urban sprawl index (USI). The evolutionary trend and spatiotemporal pattern of urban sprawl in China were then analyzed using trend analysis and exploratory spatiotemporal data analysis, and Geodetector was applied to investigate the factors driving the changes. The results show the following. ① Moderate or high urban sprawl development occurred in China from 2000 to 2017. In terms of spatial distribution, the USI was high in northwest China and low in southeast China. ② The local spatial stability of the USI gradually decreased from southeast to northwest and northeast. USI had strong spatial dependence. No significant spatiotemporal transitions in urban sprawl were observed, and the spatial pattern was stable with strong spatial cohesion. ③ The gross regional product (GRP) of the tertiary industry, the total GRP, and investment in real estate development have been the most important factors affecting sprawl in cities at the prefecture level and above in China.

A Geo-Spatial Analysis for Characterising Urban Sprawl Patterns in the Batticaloa Municipal Council, Sri Lanka

Urban sprawl related to rapid urbanisation in developed and developing nations affects sustainable land use. In Sri Lanka, urban areas have mostly expanded in a rather spontaneous, unplanned manner (based on the current settlers’ subjective movement) rather than conforming to the local government’s development plan. This growth inevitably leads to uncontrolled urban sprawl in many Sri Lankan cities, including Batticaloa. So far, Sri Lanka’s planners or researchers have not yet tackled the sprawling developments in this city. Understanding the different forms and patterns of urban sprawl is the key to address sprawling growth. This study aims to identify the characteristics of urban sprawl in the Batticaloa municipal council using Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technology. Landsat satellite images for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 as well as 2002, 2011, and 2019 population data were used and analysed using ArcGIS’ maximum likelihood classification tool and the density function, respectively, to delineate the characteristics of urban sprawl. The results revealed that low-density development, leapfrog development, commercial ribbon development, and scattered growth are the influencing characteristics of urban sprawl in the Batticaloa municipality. These characteristics were found mainly in the urban edge of the city and have led to urban sprawl. The finding provides knowledge into recognising the characteristics of urban sprawl with empirical evidence. It affords a clear direction for future studies of urban sprawl in rapidly growing cities that are numerous in Sri Lanka, and the identified characteristics of urban sprawl can be useful in minimising future sprawl. This result can be a tool for future urban planning and management in the Batticaloa municipality.

Quantitatively Assessing Ecological Stress of Urbanization on Natural Ecosystems by Using a Landscape-Adjacency Index

Urban spatial expansion poses a threat to regional ecosystems and biodiversity directly through altering the size, shape, and interconnectivity of natural landscapes. Monitoring urban spatial expansion using traditional area-based metrics from remote sensing provides a feasible way to quantify this regional ecological stress. However, variation in landscape-adjacency relationships (i.e., the adjacency between individual landscape classes) caused by urban expansion is often overlooked. In this study, a novel edge-based index (landscape-adjacency index, LAdI) was proposed based on the spatial-adjacency relationship between landscape patches to measure the regional ecological stress of urban expansion on natural landscapes. Taking the entire Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations (YRD) as a study area, we applied the LAdI for individual landscape classes (Vi) and landscape level (LV) to quantitatively assess change over time in the ecological stress of YRD from 1990 to 2015 at two spatial scales: municipal scale and 5 km-grid scale. The results showed that the vulnerable zones (LV ≥ 0.6) were mainly distributed in the north of the YRD, and cultivated land was the most vulnerable natural landscape (Vi ≥ 0.6) at the 5 km-grid scale. The most vulnerable landscape at the municipal scale was cultivated land in 19 of 26 cities in each period, and that in the remaining 7 cities varied at distinct urbanization stages. We used scatter diagrams and Pearson correlation analysis to compare the edge-based LAdI with an area-based index (percent of built-up area, PB) and found that: LV and PB had a significant positive correlation at both the municipal scale and 5 km-grid scale. But there were multiple LVs with different values corresponding to one PB with the same value at the 5 km-grid scale. Both indexes could represent the degree of urban expansion; however, the edge-based metric better quantified ecological stress under different urban-sprawl patterns sharing the same percent of built-up area. As changes in land use affect both the size and edge effect among landscape patches, the area-based PB and the edge-based LAdI should be applied together when assessing the ecological stress caused by urbanization.

Modelling the spatiotemporal patterns of urban sprawl in Ibadan metropolis between 1984 and 2013 in Nigeria

Urban sprawl is typically associated with negative environmental, economic, and socio-psychological consequences arising from distorted or improperly managed planning regulations. Addressing the challenges, most especially in developing countries with high birth rate, high net migration and unregulated land use policies require an understanding of the urban sprawl status of not only cities but also smaller admininstrative units (LGA, counties etc.) components of cities. Satellite imageries and geographic information systems (GIS), coupled with existing rule-based algorithms offer a unique and a rapid way of assessing urban sprawl dynamics. This study not only identified the spatiotemporal pattern of land use/landcover change but also morphologically characterised urban sprawl at metropolitan and LGA units in the Ibadan metropolis using Landsat imagery of 1984, 2000, 2008 and 2013.The LAC, LAR, SDI, SEI and LPI indicators of urban sprawl were computed for the urban built-up patch for each year. The annual rate of urban expansion was 1284.73 ha, while the population grew at 55,513 per annum between 1984 and 2013. Hence, the city grew rapidly between 1984 and 2000, however, the rate of growth has slowed down drastically since 2000. Also, leapfrog and edge developments type of sprawl were decreasing, while infilling was increasing, although at a slower rate in the metropolis. Increases in salaries, increasing transportation cost, dispersed activity space and desire to live closer to workplaces are some of the factors responsible for the increasing compact city development. Urban compactness rather than sprawl will most likely continue beyond 2013 based on the results of the Markov Chain analysis. Remotely sensed imageries are suitable for the assessment of not only urban growth but also morphological pattern of urban sprawl at metropolitan and LGA units.

Spatiotemporal Change of Urban Sprawl Patterns in Bamako District in Mali Based on Time Series Analysis

For decades, urban sprawl has remained a major challenge for big cities in developing countries, such as Bamako. The aim of this study is to analyze urban sprawl pattern changes over time in the Bamako district using landscape index analyses. Four thematic maps of land cover (LC) were produced by applying the maximum likelihood supervised classification method on Landsat images for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018. Five landscape indexes were selected and calculated at class level and landscape level using FRAGSTATS software. The results showed that the dominant class for all the years within the landscape was a built-up class. Forest class covered the smallest area in terms of the percentage of land (%PLAND), and was the weakest class in terms of number of patches (NP) and largest patch index (LPI). Grassland is defined as the class with the highest fragmentation, farmland with the highest shape irregularity and more heterogeneity, and built-up with the highest patches. Class area (CA) of built-up showed the importance of sprawl in Communes 6, 5, and 4, respectively. Indices trends and land use/cover showed infill, scattered, and ribbon developments of sprawl. This study contributes toward monitoring long-term urban sprawl patterns using index analyses.

Upscaling Household Survey Data Using Remote Sensing to Map Socioeconomic Groups in Kampala, Uganda

Sub-Saharan African cities are expanding horizontally, demonstrating spatial patterns of urban sprawl and socioeconomic segregation. An important research gap around the geographies of urban populations is that city-wide analyses mask local socioeconomic inequalities. This research focuses on those inequalities by identifying the spatial settlement patterns of socioeconomic groups within the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (Uganda). Findings are based on a novel dataset, an extensive household survey with 541 households, conducted in Kampala in 2019. To identify different socioeconomic groups, a k-prototypes clustering method was applied to the survey data. A maximum likelihood classification method was applied on a recent Landsat-8 image of the city and compared to the socioeconomic clustering through a fuzzy error matrix. The resulting maps show how different socioeconomic clusters are located around the city. We propose a simple method to upscale household survey responses to a larger study area, to use these data as a base map for further analysis or urban planning purposes. Obtaining a better understanding of the spatial variability in socioeconomic dynamics can aid urban policy-makers to target their decision-making processes towards a more favorable and sustainable future.

Estimating the expansion of urban areas and urban heat islands (UHI) in Ghana: a case study

This research is focused on identifying urban sprawl pattern and extent in two rapidly growing major Ghanaian cities (Accra and Kumasi) and how urban expansion affected heat island effect over the period of 2002–2017 using remote sensing imagery. The research employed remotely sensed images from Landsat 7 and 8 missions for mapping the urban sprawl. Land cover classification was done by using object-based image analysis, and for land surface temperature estimation single-channel algorithm was used. The intensity and magnitude of urban heat island were estimated. The results showed that urban expansion was more dominant process than densification in both cities. A significant area of bare soils and sparsely vegetated lands became built-up accompanied by total disappearance of forest belt of Kumasi. The intensity and magnitude values indicated the presence and expansion of urban heat island in both cities. However, there was a significant amount of bare lands and sparsely vegetated areas with relatively high surface temperature in and around these cities. From the results of this work, we note that bare or sparsely vegetated land cover types in urban areas located in tropical climates can escalate overall urban temperatures. The urban heat island magnitude values were relatively higher compared to values for European cities during the heat wave of 2016. Although urban configurations and climatic conditions may be the reason for the differences, this shows how alarming and dangerous urban heat islands could be in tropical cities.

Coupling Coordination Relationship between Urban Sprawl and Urbanization Quality in the West Taiwan Strait Urban Agglomeration, China: Observation and Analysis from DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Imagery and Panel Data

Urban sprawl is the most prominent characteristic of urbanization, and increasingly affects local and regional sustainable development. The observation and analysis of urban sprawl dynamics and their relationship with urbanization quality are essential for framing integrative urban planning. In this study, the urban areas of the West Taiwan Strait Urban Agglomeration (WTSUA) were extracted using nighttime light imagery from 1992 to 2013. The spatio-temporal characteristics and pattern of urban sprawl were quantitatively analyzed by combining an urban expansion rate index and a standard deviation ellipse model. The urbanization quality was assessed using an entropy weight model, and its relationship with urban sprawl was calculated by a coupling coordination degree model. The results showed that the urban area in the WTSUA experienced a significant increase, i.e., 18,806.73 km2, during the period 1992–2013. The central cities grew by 11.08% and noncentral cities by 27.43%, with a general uneven city rank-size distribution. The urban sprawl showed a circular expansion pattern, accompanied by a gradual centroid migration of urban areas from the southeast coast to the central-western regions. The coupling coordination level between urban expansion and urbanization quality increased from serious incoordination in 1992 to basic coordination in 2013. Dual driving forces involving state-led policies and market-oriented land reform had a positive influence on the harmonious development of urban sprawl and urbanization quality of the WTSUA. This research offers an effective approach to monitor changes in urban sprawl and explore the coupling coordination relationship between urban sprawl and urbanization quality. The study provides important scientific references for the formulation of future policies and planning for sustainable development in urban agglomerations.

A cellular automata approach of urban sprawl simulation with Bayesian spatially-varying transformation rules

ABSTRACT Incorporating spatial nonstationarity in urban models is essential to accurately capture its spatiotemporal dynamics. Spatially-varying coefficient methods, e.g. geographically weighted regression (GWR) and the Bayesian spatially-varying coefficient (BSVC) model, can reflect spatial nonstationarity. However, GWR possess weak ability eliminating the negative effects of non-constant variance because the method is sensitive to data outliers and bandwidth selection. We proposed a new cellular automata (CA) approach based on BSVC for multi-temporal urban sprawl simulation. With case studies in Hefei and Qingdao of China, we calibrated and validated two CA models, i.e. CABSVC and CAGWR, to compare their performance in simulating urban sprawl from 2008 to 2018. Our results demonstrate that CABSVC outperformed CAGWR in terms of FOM by ~2.1% in Hefei and ~3.6% in Qingdao during the calibration stage, and showed more accuracy improvement during the validation stage. The CABSVC model simulated urban sprawl more accurately than the CAGWR model in regions having similar proximity to the existing built-up areas, especially in less developed regions. We applied CABSVC to predict urban sprawl at Hefei and Qingdao out to 2028, and the urban scenarios suggest that the proposed model shows better performance and reduced bias in reproducing urban sprawl patterns, and extends urban simulation methods by accounting for spatial nonstationarity.

A Quantitative Spatial Model of Urban Sprawl and its Application to Dehradun Urban Agglomeration, India

The unregulated and scattered pattern of urban footprints is termed as urban sprawl. Urban sprawl being a dynamic phenomenon is facing many uncertainties with respect to methods for studying its dynamism. The present study aims at quantifying the urban sprawl process in Dehradun Urban Agglomeration (DUA), India, based on two criteria, viz. urban built-up density and open space fragmentation. On the basis of these two criteria, six structural classes, viz. urban, suburban and rural built-up, urbanized open space, captured open space and rural open land, were delineated. The spatio-temporal variation of these structural classes provided the basis for defining the urban sprawl patterns, i.e. infill, extension and leapfrog. The results revealed that urbanization patterns in DUA valley shifted from leapfrog to extension and then to infill pattern. The study thus attempts to develop a model for objectively defining the process of urban sprawl.

Monitoring Regional Urban Dynamics Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data in Zhejiang Province

Accurate monitoring of urban regions and urban sprawls is critical to the detection and assessment of regional development. The nighttime light images of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) provide us direct solutions to make spatial descriptions of urban regions. Unfortunately, accurate monitoring of urban regions is apt to be hampered due to the shortages of the DMSP/OLS data. In this study, we utilized a new urban region extraction strategy based on the edge-detection method which is widely applied in automatic digital image processing. The edges of urban areas in Zhejiang province were identified based on the distributions and values of pixels. Compared with other traditional methods, the urban regions extracted in this study present a higher overall accuracy and kappa coefficient (OA = 93.1409%; Kappa = 0.8755). Two periods of the urban dynamic process and urban sprawl pattern in Zhejiang from 1992–2013 were further detected by the proposed method. At city level, the drastic increase in urban areas was found in cities of Hangzhou and Ningbo. This study provides an objective and convenient solution to the accurate identification of urban regions, which is also an important step to better understand the urban dynamics and urban development.

Analyzing Urban Sprawl and Sustainable Development in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The paper examines the impact of urban sprawl on sustainable development in Dhaka megacity, applying a comprehensive analysis. The study selected the greater Dhaka region as the study area. Besides quantitative analysis, the paper also used the widely accepted definition of sprawl to confirm the existence of sprawl in the context of Dhaka. It also employed the Pairwise Ranking Matrix (PRM) to determine the most contributing factors of urban sprawl in Dhaka. The ArcGIS and Remote Sensing tools were used to investigate and indicate urban sprawl patterns and land-use change from 1990 to 2017. The findings confirmed that Dhaka was slowly experiencing processes of urban sprawl, particularly in Southern, Western, and Eastern local regions. As policy tools, this paper contributed to the designing of effective spatial planning and strategies for planned urban growth and sustainable development. Keywords: Urban sprawl; Sustainable development; Dhaka; Spatial planning; ArcGIS DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-6-02 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

The Use of the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) Database for Analyzing Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is generally defined as the urbanization of space adjacent to a city, which results from that city’s development. The discussed phenomenon involves land development, mainly agricultural land, in the proximity of cities, the development of infrastructure, and an increase in the number of residents who rely on urban services and commute to work in the city. Urban sprawl generates numerous problems which, in the broadest sense, result from the difficulty in identifying the boundaries of the central urban unit and the participation of local inhabitants, regardless of their actual place of residence, in that unit’s functional costs. These problems are associated not only with tax collection rights but with difficulties in measuring the extent of urban sprawl in research and local governance. The aim of this study was to analyze the applicability of the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) database for monitoring urbanization processes, including the dynamic process of urban sprawl. Polish cities with county rights, i.e., cities that implement independent spatial planning policies, were analyzed in the study to determine the pattern of urban sprawl in various types of cities. Buffer zones composed of municipalities that are directly adjacent to the central urban unit were mapped around the analyzed cities. The study proposes a novel method for measuring the extent of suburbanization with the use of the CLC database and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The developed method relies on the overgrowth of urbanization (OU) index calculated based on CLC data. The OU index revealed differences in the rate of urbanization in three groups of differently sized Polish cities. The analysis covered two periods: 2006–2012 and 2012–2018, and it revealed that urban sprawl in the examined cities proceeded in an unstable manner over time. The results of the present study indicate that the CLC database is a reliable source of information about urbanization processes.

Impact evaluation of urban sprawl on inland surface waters of Srinagar city in Kashmir valley

The present paper investigates the reviewed patterns of urban sprawl on inland surface waters of Srinagar city, which lies in fragile knoll eco-system of Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir Himalaya. The domino effect points towards unexpected and hit and miss inner-city development and transformation. These transformations have sternly shattered the water bodies both in provisions of area as well as its water quality. The quality of these saintly surface water sources is declining at an alarming rate. The present write up reveals that the scenic beauty of different water bodies such as Dal Lake, Lake Anchar, and river Jhelum which lie in the core area of the Srinagar city are economically degraded and under enormous pollution load. Having ravaged the water bodies, people have happened to be vulnerable to aggravated natural disasters like flooding and water logging in the city. The region experienced a severe flood during September 2014, the most terrible in Kashmir in six decades, which flooded Srinagar city and at slightest 50 villages and killed almost 200 people, and distressed 2 million people across the region. Therefore, it becomes a vital responsibility of the government as well as the local dwelling people or public to preserve the “Paradise on Earth” for coming generations by reducing extra pressure of pollution. Thus, precise management of the main water bodies of Srinagar city is the need of the hour to preserve ecological balance to sustain the Srinagar city.

Environmental consequences of the urban sprawl in the suburban zone of Nitra: An analysis based on landcover data

One of the most important territorial processes in the highly urbanised continent of Europe is suburbanisation, urban sprawl which occurs in a gradual manner over long periods and is not perceived as dramatic. Nevertheless the built-up urban areas and the urban lifestyle occupy step by step the periurban territories. Urban sprawl affects the essential environmental, economic and social functions of the impacted settlements. In the last decades these processes reached the less urbanised Central European region, leading to very fast and less planned changes in its settlement system. The research deals with these processes in the Central European non-metropolitan areas, around regional centres, and with their environmental impacts. The aim of this paper is, based on theoretical and empirical knowledge, to point out to spatial patterns of urban sprawl and suburbanisation in functional urban areas (FUA). This paper examines the urban sprawl and its impacts in Slovakia in the case of Nitra Functional Urban Area, in the agglomeration of an economically growing regional centre. The research is based on standard geographical methods including field research. Desktop and field empirical researches were conducted, with different methods such us GIS analysis of land use change. The analysis shows then to what extent cities and urban areas grow, from which one can conclude to how landscape surrounding the urban residential areas has changed, how the proportion of non-permeable surfaces increased, basically influencing the runoff of precipitation. The data demonstrate, moreover, how artificial patches and barriers fragment landscape more and more, endangering thereby biodiversity and decreasing green surfaces. The examination covers the 2000-2018 period, using the CORINE CLC 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018 databases. Thereby the authors are able to examine changes in a longer period of almost two decades, and three internal periods. All this is compared to the demographic changes of the urban area of Nitra as well, in order to see to what extent the change in the number of population contributes to the transformation of land cover and thereby to environmental impacts. The characteristic features of Nitra and its hinterland within this are analysed, then the Nitra FUA and within that the suburban zone is examined in detail. Nitra and its area feature high enlargement dynamics looking at the whole of the period, compared to other FUAs. It is typical almost everywhere that the enlargement of areas surrounding cities is more intensive than the growth of the city itself, which demonstrates general suburbanisation.

Characteristics of Post Socialist Spatial Development of the Functional Urban Area of Veszprém, Hungary

AbstractThe post-socialist era resulted remarkable changes in urban landscape in Eastern Europe and in Hungary. The special circumstances caused moderate level of urbanisation and special patterns of urban sprawl, traceable in land use changes. The urban sprawl and suburbanisation became an important trend around smaller Hungarian cities as well. Regulators are eager to rule the evolution of spaces, however, it is hard to control all aspects of land use. The research presented in this paper shows the dynamics of new artificial areas with the help of land use changes from the Corine Database for the functional urban area around Veszprém and attempts to find the most important policy responses to the growing artificial surfaces after transition. The research questions are: What are the most important trends in changing in-built areas in a small city after the transition? What kind of new artificial areas appeared and where are they situated? Were the land use plans and nature protection effective tools for manage urban sprawl? With the help of Corine land use changes between 1990-2018 the most important spatial changes are shown, and the different peri-urban areas are compared around the core town. Attention is drawn to the importance of regulation for sustainable land use and protection of resources. It also highlights the importance of the regulatory power of municipalities. Changes in the environment of Veszprém may give inspiration for the rethinking the relationship of urban-rural, and catchment area and core town.