Urban Land Conversion Research Articles

Cross-boundary effects of human impacts on animal assemblages in the coastal zone

Human impacts on ecosystems often transcend ecosystem boundaries and environmental realms, complicating ecosystem assessment, conservation, and management. Whether and how different impacts affect ecosystems in distinct but adjacent domains remains untested in many settings, and is rarely tested concurrently at the same spatial scales. In this study, we quantified the effects of coastal urbanisation on the structure of terrestrial coastal vertebrate assemblages (including birds, reptiles and mammals using baited trail cameras) and marine surf zone fish assemblages (using baited underwater videography) at 100 sites along 50 km of beach in eastern Australia. Sites occurred along a gradient of intensities of urban land conversion in the hind dunes. While the effects of urbanisation on the species sampled were pervasive across both ecosystems, the area of urbanised land mattered more for the coastal vertebrates observed, while proximity to urbanised land was more important for the surf zone fish observed. Here, fewer individuals and species of coastal vertebrates were found at sites with a greater extent of urbanised land within 5 km. Conversely, fish assemblages were more diverse in the surf zones abutting urban areas and more abundant at sites approximately 150 m from urbanised land. The spatial properties of these landscapes, including proximity to headlands for coastal vertebrates and reefs for fish, modified the effects of urbanisation. Our findings suggest that urbanisation can have ecologically nuanced effects that are detectable across the land-sea boundary, and stress the importance of landscape context when assessing and conserving animal assemblages in and around coastal cities.

Promoting urban ecological resilience through the lens of avian biodiversity

The significance of urban landscapes in safeguarding biodiversity is often disregarded, even though a considerable amount of conservation focus is directed toward biodiversity hotspots where urban land conversion is happening at the fastest pace. Maintaining biodiversity in urban areas not only benefits the environment, but along with social, economic, and technological factors can increase the stability of urban systems to disturbance, a concept known as “urban resilience”. In this synthesis paper, we explore the ecological dimension of urban resilience and specifically focus on avian biodiversity because birds are easy to observe, relatively abundant, and can serve as an indicator of the overall health of urban environments. We first examine the concept of ecological resilience and discuss the role of environmental stressors associated with urbanization in the ongoing avian biodiversity crisis. We then provide an overview of characteristics of the urban environment that may promote ecological resilience in birds, and associations between social and economic factors and urban ecological resilience. Finally, we provide recommendations on future research regarding strategies to improve urban ecological resilience and thus, urban resilience as a whole, at the intersections of urban ecology, ecosystem ecology, environmental justice, and urban planning. Since 68% of the world’s population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050, it is imperative that scientists, urban planners, civil engineers, architects, and others consider urban ecological resilience as a dimension of both environmental health and the resilience of cities to future natural and anthropogenic stressors.

Land subsidence studies in the Godavari Delta regions of the East coast of India using ALOS and Sentinel 1 data

Subsidence in coastal deltas is a challenging issue globally, influenced by both climate and anthropogenic pressures. Owing to its rich economic value, the Godavari Delta on the east coast of India attracts the human population and is therefore a hub of developmental activities. We quantified the line of sight (LOS) rate of land deformation in the Godavari Delta, India, for two different periods using the time series interferometric analysis of Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phase Arrayed L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS PALSAR) (2007–2011) and C-band Sentinel-1A (2017–2020) datasets. This approach was based on the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) algorithm, which constructed 76 (ALOS) and 333 (Sentinel-1A) pairs of interferograms. The results indicated that the majority of deltas had varying LOS deformation rates in both periods. The southern and northern coastline of the deltas showed subsidence (-10 to -20 mm/yr) and uplift (5 mm to 7 mm/yr), respectively, from 2007 to 2011. The uplift (11 mm/yr) during 2017–2020 was attributed to coastal erosion and accretion during the study period. Statistical analyses showed that the majority of the coastline experienced erosion from 2006 to 2011, ranging from 0 ‐30 m/yr. Conversely, during 2017–2019, accretion ranging from 0-30 m/yr was dominant. The Kakinada spit has recently experienced an uplift of 8 mm/yr. Many factors contributing to deformation, such as groundwater fluctuations, rainfall, land use and land cover (LULC) changes, and water quality, were explored. Groundwater level variations were strongly correlated with the rate of deformation. A direct relationship was also observed between water recharge through rainfall and the ground deformation rate. The subsidence rate was estimated as 0 to ‐8 mm/yr from 2007-2011 and -10 to -20 mm/yr for 2017–2020 in the Godavari Delta. Increased urban areas and land conversion from the LULC analysis were the causative factors of subsidence in this region. Thus, the Godavari Delta will become highly vulnerable, as the region has shown various LOS deformation rates. Studies on land subsidence are highly relevant for effective coastal management planning and management.

Urban Expansion Simulation Coupled with Residential Location Selection and Land Acquisition Bargaining: A Case Study of Wuhan Urban Development Zone, Central China’s Hubei Province

The urban expansion process involves multiple stakeholders whose interactions and decision-making behaviors have a complex impact on urban land conversion. In this study, we established an urban expansion simulation model that couples two sub-models: the residential location selection model and the land acquisition bargaining model. Those sub-models include four types of agents: resident agent (RA), real estate developer agent (DA), government agent (GA), and farmer agent (FA). The residential location selection model is composed of three agents, RA, DA, and GA, and is first used to select residential locations, while an artificial neural network (ANN) is used to define the behavior rules of RA and RA selects pixels as candidate locations according to the joint decision probability. Then the land acquisition bargaining model is used, which is composed of GA and FA. If the land acquisition is successful, a pixel is converted into urban land, which is occupied by the corresponding RA; otherwise, the RA selects the next pixel and enters the bargaining process again, and so on, until the RA successfully selects a residential location. Each iteration represents the selection process of an agent. We used this model to simulate urban expansion within the Wuhan Urban Development Zone (WHUDZ) of central China from 2009 to 2019. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the simulation results were 92.78% and 55.24%, respectively, which were higher than the results using logistic regression cellular automata. Moreover, we obtained the relative contributions of various influencing factors in the ANN on the residential location selection, revealing the influence of the land acquisition process on land expansion. In addition, the coupled model predicted that the WHUDZ’s urban land area will reach 1415.82 km2 in 2029, mainly through extensional expansion, and the southeast and northwest will be expansion hot spots.

Institutional Settings and Effects on Agricultural Land Conversion: A Global and Spatial Analysis of European Regions

Spatial planning systems and institutions have a significant role in managing non-agricultural land growth in Europe and the assessment of how their implementation impacts on agricultural land consumption is of great significance for policy and institutional improvement. Reducing the area of agricultural land taken for urban development, or eliminating such conversion, is an international policy priority aiming to maintain the amount and quality of land resources currently available for food production and sustainable development. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of land use planning systems and institutional settings on urban conversion of agricultural land in the 265 NUTS2 level EU27 and UK regions. Taking these regions as the unit of our analysis, the research developed and used global and local econometrics models to estimate the effect based on socio-economic, institutional and land use data for the 2000–2018 period. There is limited research focusing on the impacts of institutional settings and planning types of the European countries on the conversion of agricultural land. Furthermore, existing research has not considered the spatial relationships with the determinants of agricultural land conversion and the response variable, therefore, our research aimed to contribute to the literature on the subject. The results showed that the types of spatial planning systems and institution variables significantly impact the conversion of agricultural land to urban uses. Socio-economic indicators and areas of agricultural and urban land have significant impact on agricultural land conversion for any type of spatial planning system. A further result was that decentralization and political fragmentation were positively associated with agricultural land conversion while quality of regional government and governance was negatively associated. A local regression model was assessed to explore the different spatial patterns of the relationships driving agricultural land conversion. The main empirical finding from this model was that there was spatial variation of driving factors of agricultural land conversion in Europe.

Urban Land Conversion Reduces Soil Organic Carbon Density Under Impervious Surfaces

AbstractAccurate assessments of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage beneath impervious surface areas (ISAs, SOCISA) are key for understanding the urbanization impact on carbon pools, but previous studies either ignored the SOCISA pool or overlooked the urbanization impacts on the SOC pool. Based on observations from 152 sampling sites in 43 cities, we show that mainland China has a SOCISA stock of 1,016 Tg to 100‐cm depth, with a mean density of 6.21 ± 3.90 kg m−2. Comparison between SOCISA and the SOC of background soil (SOCbackground) indicates ∼19% SOC loss due to ISA conversion, similar to the effect of cropland conversion. Unlike the vertical pattern of SOCbackground, which declined faster in the upper soil layers, SOCISA decreased linearly with depth. Moreover, the SOCISA is uncorrelated with SOCbackground and decreases with precipitation. These unique patterns indicate the SOC loss mainly caused by topsoil removal during land conversion. The fact that the SOCISA of older ISA was not lower than that of newly converted ISA further confirmed that soil sealing preserved SOC. Finally, both the high correlation between SOCISA and SOCPSA (SOC of the adjacent pervious surfaces) and the converging SOC densities in urban soils showed strong influences from urban greenspace on SOCISA. Based on the findings, we recommend improving greenspace management to increase the presealing SOC stock, preventing ISA construction in wet/warm seasons to mitigate SOC loss, and developing technology to seal carbon stock under ISA. We conclude that SOCISA is a major component of the urban carbon pool. It has a unique spatial pattern and cannot be estimated using surrogate data such as SOCbackground or SOCPSA.

Flood Disaster Risk Model in Karawang Regency's Industrial Area, West Java Province, Indonesia

Telukjambe Barat and Telukjambe Timur Sub-Districts, Karawang Regency, have a high flood risk level due to changes in Land Use/Land Cover and the yearly occurrence of runoff water discharge. This research aims to analyze the rate and pattern of land-use change due to industrial development, examine the correlation of flood impacts with environmental-socio-economic factors, and develop a flood risk model in industrial areas. Data were collected through methods of system dynamics, remote sensing, geographic information system, questionnaire distribution, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders. The results showed that floods in this regency are due to massive inland changes, such as the transition from vegetation and water bodies to industrial and residential areas and a strong relationship between environmental-social-economic factors. In other cases, areas with urban land conversion are likely to be flood-prone zones in places such as the Philippines, Belgium, and China. Based on the correlation test that has been conducted, the relationship with the highest level of closeness is the correlation between environmental factors and the impact of flooding, which has a value of 0.791. Therefore, the disaster risk model with an integrated spatial plan approach and an ecological perspective is an option for realizing sustainable development in industrial areas in Karawang Regency.

Global impacts of future urban expansion on terrestrial vertebrate diversity

Rapid urban expansion has profound impacts on global biodiversity through habitat conversion, degradation, fragmentation, and species extinction. However, how future urban expansion will affect global biodiversity needs to be better understood. We contribute to filling this knowledge gap by combining spatially explicit projections of urban expansion under shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) with datasets on habitat and terrestrial biodiversity (amphibians, mammals, and birds). Overall, future urban expansion will lead to 11–33 million hectares of natural habitat loss by 2100 under the SSP scenarios and will disproportionately cause large natural habitat fragmentation. The urban expansion within the current key biodiversity priority areas is projected to be higher (e.g., 37–44% higher in the WWF’s Global 200) than the global average. Moreover, the urban land conversion will reduce local within-site species richness by 34% and species abundance by 52% per 1 km grid cell, and 7–9 species may be lost per 10 km cell. Our study suggests an urgent need to develop a sustainable urban development pathway to balance urban expansion and biodiversity conservation.

Spatial Pattern of Functional Urban Land Conversion and Expansion under Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of Changchun, China

As populations continue to be concentrated in cities, the world will become entirely urbanized, and urban space is undergoing a drastic evolution. Understanding the spatial pattern of conversion and expansion of functional urban land, in the context of rapid urbanization, helps us to grasp the trajectories of urban spatial evolution in greater depth from a theoretical and practical level. Using the ESRI ArcGIS 9.3 software platform, methods, such as overlay analysis, transition matrix, and kernel density estimation, were used in order to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of different types of functional urban land conversion and expansion in the central city of Changchun. The results show that different types of functional urban land were often expanded and replaced, and the urban spatial structure was constantly evolving. The conversion and expansion of functional urban land show similar characteristics to concentric zone and sector modes and show dynamic changes in different concentric circles and directions at different periods. Our method can accurately identify the different types of functional urban land, and also explore the evolutionary trajectory of urban spatial structure. This study will help to coordinate the development of different functional urban spaces and to optimize the urban spatial structure in the future.

Green city—future sustainable development and smart growth

The concept of the green city originally came from Europe and the North American countries, where it is very different from the concept in Asian countries because of climate, the people’s backgrounds, and the culture, goals, and history of city development. A green city is a city that demonstrates high environmental performance compared to established criteria in terms of 1) the quality of environmental assets (air, water, land / soil and biodiversity), 2) the efficient use of resources (water, energy, land and materials) and 3) mitigating risks and adapting to the risks of climate change, while maximizing economic and social co-benefits, taking into account the context of the city (population, socio-economic structure and geographic and climatic characteristics). City greening is one of the ways to pursue a green city. It is aimed at replacing the loss of green spaces that have disappeared in ongoing urban land conversion for housing and transportation. As stated in the definition of the Green City approach, measures to improve the environmental performance of a city should also seek to maximize economic and social benefits. These links between economic, social and environmental goals will provide additional motivation for city leaders to take green city action. Keywords

Increasing urban flood risk in China over recent 40 years induced by LUCC

Land use/cover change (LUCC) caused by urbanization has a great impact on urban hydrological systems, among which urban pluvial floods are particularly prominent and have attracted worldwide attention. Although some previous studies have shown that urban LUCC increases urban pluvial flood risk and reduces urban flood regulation service (UFRS) in individual cities, there has not been a nationwide quantitative assessment in China. Here, we use a data-driven hydrological model and constructed indicators to clarify the quantitative impact of LUCC on China's UFRS and its spatial pattern from 1977 to 2018. Our analysis revealed that LUCC has caused China's UFRS to decline by 13.39%, from 31.34% in 1977 to 17.95% in 2018. Spatially, the UFRS decline in all river basins in China was greater than 10%, and the UFRS in almost all cities was decreasing. Especially in the densely distributed eastern Yangtze River basin, Pearl River basin, Southeast basin, Haihe River basin and Huai River basin, their UFSR values decreased by 11.89%, 12.17%, 12.34% and 10.81%, respectively. This is a warning that China's urban land conversion has greatly increased the urban pluvial flood risk.

High-resolution urban change modeling and flood exposure estimation at a national scale using open geospatial data: A case study of the Philippines

Many developing countries in Asia are experiencing rapid urban expansion in climate hazard prone areas. To support climate resilient urban planning efforts, here we present an approach for simulating future urban land-use changes and evaluating potential flood exposure at a high spatial resolution (30 m) and national scale. As a case study, we applied this model to the Philippines – a country frequently affected by extreme rainfall events. Urban land-use changes were simulated to the year 2050 using a trend-based logistic regression cellular automata model, considering three different scenarios of urban expansion (assuming low/medium/high population growth). Flood exposure assessment was then conducted by overlaying the land-use simulation results onto a global floodplain map. We found that approximately 6040–13,850 ha of urban land conversion is likely to be located in flood prone regions between 2019 and 2050 (depending on the scenario), affecting approximately 2.5–5.8 million additional urban residents. In locations with high rates of future urban development in flood prone areas (Mindanao Island, in particular), climate resilient land-use plans should be developed/enforced, and flood mitigation infrastructure protected (in the case of “nature-based” infrastructure) or constructed. The data selected for our land-use change modeling and flood exposure assessment were all openly and (near-)globally available, with the intention that our methodology can potentially be applied in other countries where rapid urban expansion is occurring. The 2050 urban land-use maps generated in this study are available for download at https://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/ph-urban2050/en to allow for their use in future works.

Urban effects on saprophagous macroarthropods are mainly driven by climate: A global meta-analysis

Macrodecomposers provide important ecosystem services even in human dominated habitats including urban ecosystems, but the effect of urban land conversion on their species diversity and abundance has not been explored at global scale. Here, we present the first meta-analysis to quantify the general response of two major arthropod taxa, terrestrial isopods and millipedes to urbanization and to reveal the underlying mechanisms. Climatic (temperature, precipitation, growing season length), edaphic (pH, organic carbon, CaCO3 and clay content of surface soils), urban (population density, city age, vegetation cover and mean actual evapotranspiration) parameters and methods of study (duration, sampling technique, replications) were used as moderators. We used a hierarchical meta-analytic approach to consider the dependence of multiple effect sizes obtained from one study. Altogether 156 paired observations were extracted from 59 urban studies conducted between 1980 and 2020. Urbanization had a negative effect on species diversity (species richness and Shannon index) of both macroarthropod taxa. However, both the direction and strength of their abundance response varied to a greater extent, resulting in a neutral effect of urban disturbance on them. The key drivers influencing the urban effects on macroarthropods were mean annual temperature and precipitation, absolute minimum temperature and length of growing season. The study also highlighted the importance of sampling methods: direct sampling (hand collecting) resulted in stronger urban effects presumably due to several sources of sampling bias. Our global synthesis highlighted that urbanization is a threat to soil arthropods, particularly to litter-dwelling detritivores, which potentially alters plant residue processing and ultimately soil biogeochemical cycles.

How will innovation-driven development policy affect sustainable urban land use: Evidence from 230 Chinese cities

Government policy has a significant effect on rural–urban land conversion, ultimately affecting sustainable urban land use. Unlike most studies that have centred on the effects of local land-use policies, such as regulations and taxes, the present study investigates the effect of the innovation-driven development policy initialised recently by China on urban land growth at the national level. Although the geography of innovation, high-tech agglomeration and sectoral restructuring are place-based activities, existing evidence shows several links between urban innovation and urban land growth. However, only a few empirical studies have examined their relationships to date. Thus, we aim to determine the effect of urban innovation on the size and the spatial distribution of urban land using a statistical dataset from 2007 to 2015 and a spatial data source at two-time points for 230 Chinese cities. We employ three fixed effects models to control for the possible correlation between independent variables and unobservable city-level effects. Our results indicate that urban innovation has indeed driven urban land growth but does not make the urban landscape more scattered than before. Further examinations suggest that the urban innovation effect varies across the whole country, and the innovation-urban land growth connection relies on the geographic location rather than the economy size.

Does Economic Agglomeration Lead to Efficient Rural to Urban Land Conversion? An Examination of China’s Metropolitan Area Development Strategy

Urbanization involves expansion of the amount of land covered by urban uses. Rural to urban land conversion (RULC) can satisfy demand for the additional space that growing cities require. However, there can be negative consequences, such as the loss of productive agricultural land and/or the destruction of natural habitats. Considerable interest therefore exists among policy makers and researchers regarding how the efficiency of RULC can be maximized. We used the Gini index and a data envelopment analysis to quantify the relationship between RULC and economic development for 17 metropolitan areas in China. We did this from two perspectives: (i) coordination; and (ii) efficiency. We found that economic agglomeration fosters the coordination of the amount of rural land that is allocated to be converted to urban uses. Similarly, economic agglomeration increases the efficiency of RULC in terms of the processes of socio-economic production. Through production technology innovation and readjustment in the scale of input factors, the productive efficiency of RULC can be promoted. Our findings suggest a need to strictly limit the amount of RULC, design differential land management policies according to location and development level, and adjust RULC allocation between different cities. Further, in harnessing the potential of intensive urban land use and restructuring, production factors, including land, can be enhanced through technological innovation. Research presented in this paper provides insights for areas of the world which are yet to undergo the rapid urbanization that China has experienced, but where it is projected to occur over the coming decades.

Urbanization impacts on flood risks based on urban growth data and coupled flood models

Urbanization increases regional impervious surface area, which generally reduces hydrologic response time and therefore increases flood risk. The objective of this work is to investigate the sensitivities of urban flooding to urban land growth through simulation of flood flows under different urbanization conditions and during different flooding stages. A sub-watershed in Toronto, Canada, with urban land conversion was selected as a test site for this study. In order to investigate the effects of urbanization on changes in urban flood risk, land use maps from six different years (1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, and 2000) and of six simulated land use scenarios (0%, 20%, 40%, 60, 80%, and 100% impervious surface area percentages) were input into coupled hydrologic and hydraulic models. The results show that urbanization creates higher surface runoff and river discharge rates and shortened times to achieve the peak runoff and discharge. Areas influenced by flash flood and floodplain increases due to urbanization are related not only to overall impervious surface area percentage but also to the spatial distribution of impervious surface coverage. With similar average impervious surface area percentage, land use with spatial variation may aggravate flash flood conditions more intensely compared to spatially uniform land use distribution.

Complexity of Functional Urban Spaces Evolution in Different Aspects: Based on Urban Land Use Conversion

The evolution of urban spatial structure and urban land use is a topical issue in urban studies. The analysis of the complexity of functional urban spaces evolution is valuable for a deeper understanding of the changes in urban spatial structure. Taking the central city of Changchun as the study area, the paper uses the urban land conversion method to analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of functional urban spaces evolution in different aspects. The study found that the evolution of functional urban spaces presents significant spatial and temporal differences in different stages and different aspects. There is a close relationship between functional urban spaces evolution and scale. As the scale becomes smaller, the spatial differences and patterns of functional urban spaces evolution become more complex. In the context of rapid urbanization, the mutual replacement of functional urban spaces is frequent, which is not conducive to the sustainable development of urban space as a whole. This study will deepen the understanding of the evolution of urban spatial structure and the complexity of urban systems and provide theoretical support for the optimization and sustainable development of urban spaces.

Quantifying Ecological Well-Being Loss under Rural–Urban Land Conversion: A Study from Choice Experiments in China

Rural–urban land conversion has led to the degradation of agricultural system ecological services, and therefore human ecological well-being. There is a need to transform the non-marketed value of ecosystem services provision into a monetary loss of ecological well-being in rural–urban land conversion, which could serve as a basis for ecological compensation. In this paper, a choice experiment method is adopted to investigate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of rural and urban residents in six cities of three provinces selected from different regions in China. The results reveal that the attributes reflecting the ecological well-being of rural and urban residents are experiencing different degrees of decline. Two attributes, health and security, show the most obvious decline among all ecological well-being attributes for urban residents. In view of stakeholders, rural residents are facing a greater decline in ecological well-being than urban residents, which is mainly driven by their different linkages and interactions with the agro-ecosystem. In terms of regional comparisons, residents in the central region (Hubei Province) of China are subject to the sharpest decline in ecological well-being, followed by those living in the western region (Guizhou Province) and the eastern region (Guangdong Province). These differences are basically determined by their land resource conditions and socioeconomic circumstances. This paper argues that it is pressing to establish an ecological compensation mechanism to regulate rural–urban land conversion and maintain human ecological well-being.

Ecological risk resonance of urbanization and its effect on geohazard disaster: the case of Freetown, Sierra Leone

Land use changes associated with urbanization may increase ecological risk and subsequent geohazard risk. Africa is particularly vulnerable at preset as, since 2005, the highest rates of rapid urbanization-associated forest degradation have occurred there. On August 14, 2017, a compound geohazard in Freetown, Sierra Leone, caused thousands of fatalities and destroyed hundreds of houses. Land use change is considered the main factor contributing to geohazard initiation. Here, we use Freetown as a case study to quantitatively assess the magnitude of the increase in ecological risk associated with land use changes. To achieve the aim, satellite images are used in the case study area from 2007 to 2017, the data are integrated into a geographic information system. A series of indices are then used based on the processed images to describe land use and ecological risk, including dynamic index, trend and state index, and ecological risk index. The results show that Freetown experienced a rapid urbanization process, together with an unbalanced increase in urban land and complex conversion of bare and grass land, from 2007 to 2017. Significantly degenerated forest was converted into urban land (2.77%), bare land (6.47%), and grassland (10.27%), while the ecological risk level increased from low to high. The ecological risk in the affected area of geohazard is found higher than that of the surrounding mountainous area. It indicates that vegetation may reduce the risk of disaster. This result is helpful for the trade-off between urban development and ecological protection and rational urban planning. For disaster resilience and sustainable development of Freetown, and also other rapidly urbanizing cities in mountainous areas, ecological protection must be incorporated into development planning.

Urban sprawl and land conversion in post-socialist cities: The case of metropolitan Budapest

Former state-socialist cities were described by the literature as compact and relatively dense urban forms. However, the political transition of 1989–90 has changed the spatial characteristics of these cities, partly due to urban sprawl. Yet, we do not know if such a phenomenon as “sprawl” did exist before 1989. The main aim of this paper is to assess urban expansion in the metropolitan region of Budapest during state-socialism and after the political changes, and measure the intensity of urban sprawl. The main thesis is that urban sprawl did not start with the advent of market forces in 1989–90, but it was already present during state-socialism, however the tempo of sprawl was considerably increased by suburbanization, the dominant form of urban expansion, after 1990. In order to explore the longitudinal land use changes in the Budapest metropolitan region we analyse standardised databases and maps (e.g. military topographic map from 1959, Corine Land Cover database from 1990 and European Urban Atlas from 2012). The discussion is focused, on the one hand, on the growth of urbanized land as an outcome of urban sprawl and the main underpinning factors in different epochs and, on the other hand, on the main driving forces of suburbanization and sprawl. Research results clearly show that urban sprawl has intensified around Budapest after the political changes. This was the result of a complex interplay of socio-economic and political factors, a process driven by the free movement of residents, firms, as well as the reshuffle of the regulatory framework. The study demonstrates that urban sprawl has several negative impacts on social, economic and environmental sustainability in the investigated metropolitan region, which is in line with findings of the literature.