Urban Sprawl in Europe: The Ignored Challenge

Sprawl threatens the very culture of Europe, as it creates environmental, social and economic impacts for both the cities and countryside of Europe. Moreover, it seriously undermines efforts to meet the global challenge of climate change. Urban sprawl is synonymous with unplanned incremental urban development, characterised by a low density mix of land uses on the urban fringe. Classically, urban sprawl is a US phenomenon associated with the rapid low-density outward expansion of US cities, stemming back to the early part of the 20th century. It was fuelled by the rapid growth of private car ownership and the preference for detached houses with gardens. In Europe, cities have traditionally been much more compact, developing a dense historical core shaped before the emergence of modern transport systems. Compared to most American cities, their European counterparts still remain in many cases compact. However, European cities were more compact and less sprawled in the mid 1950s than they are today, and urban sprawl is now a common phenomenon throughout Europe. Moreover, there is no apparent slowing in these trends. The urban areas particularly at risk are in the southern, eastern and central parts of Europe are particularly at risk.