Session 1 - Montefiore

The extent of urban sprawl in Europe
Map 4 Urban sprawl in Germany, Poland and Czech Republic (1990–2000)
Source: EEA, 2005.
0 100 200 Km
we look ahead to the type of Europe we would like
to see in the next 50–100 years, taking into account
possible climate change and the many impacts and
adaptation challenges it would pose (see Chapter 4,
Section 4.1.4).
Historical trends, since the mid-1950s, show that
European cities have expanded on average by
78 %, whereas the population has grown by only
33 %. A major consequence of this trend is that
European cities have become much less compact.
The dense enclosed quarters of the compact city
have been replaced by free standing apartment
blocks, semi-detached and detached houses. In half
of the urban areas studied in the Moland project,
more than 90 % of all residential areas built after
the mid-1950s were low density areas, with less
than 80 % of the land surface covered by buildings,
roads and other structures (Figure 2). Only in 5
of the 24 cities, all in southern or central parts of
Europe, were more than 50 % of new housing areas
(built since the mid-1950s) densely built-up.
Trends towards new low density environments
are also evident in the space consumed per person
in the cities of Europe during the past 50 years
which has more than doubled. In particular, over
the past 20 years the extent of built-up areas in
many western and eastern European countries
has increased by 20 % while the population has
increased by only 6 % (Figure 3).
Time lags and uneven
development
Urban and infrastructure
development
1 to 5 %
5 to 10 %
More than 10 %
Urban zones 1990
More than 50 000
people
Green background index
0 to 60 %
61 to 100 %
No data
Sprawl is greater, and in many cases significantly
greater, than would be expected on the basis of
population growth alone (MOLAND). Only in
Munich and Bilbao has population grown more
rapidly than in the built-up area. Palermo with
50 % growth in population generated more than
200 % growth in the built-up area (Figure 4).
Although the population is decreasing in many
regions of Europe (Map 5 — blue tone), urban
areas are still growing in those areas, notably
Spain, Portugal and some parts of Italy (Map 5
— dark blue tone). Conversely, moderate increases
of population accompanied by a large expansion
of urban areas can be observed in Spain, Portugal,
Ireland and the Netherlands. Major gains of
population (> 10 %, through immigration) can
only be observed in western Germany, where the
average annual expansion of built-up areas is
47 000 ha/year, growth equivalent over 5 years to
the area of Greater Copenhagen.
European cites are also remarkably diverse in
respect of urban residential densities (Figure 5).
Generally, there is a tendency for residential
densities to fall towards the north and west of
Europe, and the five urban areas with residential
densities of at least 10 000 inhabitants/km 2 are all
located in southern or southeastern Europe. There
is no tendency, however, for urban sprawl to vary
with the density of cities, as irrespective of urban
Urban sprawl in Europe 11