Report on the balance between planning and the market relating to sustainable and resilient development of suburban areas: Deliverable 5.6 of the TURAS Project

At present urban sprawl is considered to be the main threat to sustainable urban development by most urban planners. As a trend that was first been observed in North America after the Second World War, it was not seen as a threat to urban development until the 1980s. It was then, with the evolution of the concept of sustainability, that the attitude of planners, most professionals and the wider public changed. In Europe, these problems were faced somewhat later – they became a focus of planners’ concern and research late in the 1990s and particularly in the 2000s. The European Environment Agency (EEA) issued several important documents raising public awareness about the threats that sprawl presented to the environment, the most important being the 2006 report “Urban sprawl in Europe – The ignored challenge”.

Cities, as a rule, expand as they grow. To explain why urban sprawl is a threat, urban growth and expansion should be differentiated. Urban growth is, generally, positive – cities are growing because they are becoming more competitive, provide more and better jobs and bolster a vibrant, local economy. However, sprawl is excessive urban expansion, resulting in expansive, low density neighbourhoods. The proponents of sprawl argue that “sprawl is sweet” because it reflects the preferences of residents to live in larger plots in quiet, low density residential areas with a lot of open spaces and greenery. The opponents of sprawl, too, agree that the growth of cities is positive, but sprawl occurs when cities grow excessively, i.e. when the expansion of the urbanised area outstrips the growth of its population. Thus each resident consumes land for housing and for infrastructure excessively, as well as resources such as gas, for commuting.

The EEA report of 2006 outlines several major negative impacts of sprawl. Sprawl above all excessively consumes land, raw materials and fuels. Excessive consumption of land means excessive loss of rural land, which is sealed and many of its properties are lost. Biodiversity is sharply reduced. In addition to land, raw materials and fuels, the consumption of water and the production of exhaust emissions are also excessive and affect the climate. Thus the price paid by society for sprawl is high, especially in view that most of the resources consumed are non-renewable. Although the residents of low density suburbs may enjoy open spaces, greenery and high standard of living, suburbs also often become dormitory housing areas, which are socially segregated and less lively than compact, urban settlements.

For additional information on this deliverable please email Aleksandar Slaev at slaev@vfu.bg.

For additional information on the TURAS project see here, or email marcus.collier@tcd.ie.