Volume 35, Issue 14 pp. 4330-4342
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Insight into the spatial nature of the urban sprawl phenomenon in European capitals

Wiktoria Grabowska

Wiktoria Grabowska

A 2023 graduate of Land Management at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

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Anita Kukulska-Kozieł

Corresponding Author

Anita Kukulska-Kozieł

Department of Land Management and Landscape Architecture, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

Correspondence

Anita Kukulska-Kozieł and Tomasz Noszczyk, Department of Land Management and Landscape Architecture, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 21 Mickiewicza Avenue, 31-120 Krakow, Poland.

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Tomasz Noszczyk

Corresponding Author

Tomasz Noszczyk

Department of Land Management and Landscape Architecture, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

Correspondence

Anita Kukulska-Kozieł and Tomasz Noszczyk, Department of Land Management and Landscape Architecture, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 21 Mickiewicza Avenue, 31-120 Krakow, Poland.

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 04 July 2024
Citations: 4

Abstract

This research provides a brief insight into the spatial nature of urban sprawl in functional urban areas (FUAs) of European capitals, as opposed to most investigations into urban growth that focus on case studies. Its purpose is to identify European capitals that grow the most and characterize the spatial aspect of urban sprawl and dynamics of ensuing land-cover change between 2006, 2012, and 2018. We employed open data from the Urban Atlas, which we processed with spatial analyses and the NUASI (Normalized Urban Atlas Sprawl Indicator) to quantify the scale of urban sprawl in the investigated areas. The results demonstrate the most dynamic growth for Central and Eastern European and Iberian Peninsula capitals, while it seems to be slowing down in other Western European and Balkan countries. Moreover, we found out that FUAs of European capitals differ in terms of the scale and pace of uncontrolled urban sprawl. The results of our comparative analyses are relevant to urban development because they can identify areas exhibiting various scales and paces of urban sprawl to take targeted actions depending on the needs defined by decision-makers and strategies.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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