Urban Sprawl : origins and environmental consequences

Abstract: The purpose of the present work is to provide a brief survey of the process of urban sprawl. What are its origins, how did it develop and why? Moreover, focus will be on envi-ronmental concerns in the framework of urban sprawl. The thesis concentrates on develop-ments in Europe and North America, where cities can look back on a long history of sprawl, and where processes have become very sophisticated. Based on a detailed description of the origins and history of urban sprawl in Europe and the United States, potentially sprawl-induced effects on the environment will be presented and discussed. In a further step, urban sprawl in two case studies (Stuttgart and Leipzig) will be highlighted and discussed with special focus on environ-mental effects. The purpose in doing so is basically to provide a basis and a starting point for further discussions concerning potential and actual effects of sprawl on environment con-cerns.