Patterns of Urban Sprawl from a Global Perspective

Abstract

Urban sprawl has become a common phenomenon due to rapid global population growth. An understanding of the inherent characteristics and a quantification of the extent of urban sprawl are sorely lacking but urgently required. We measured urban sprawl globally at the metropolitan scale using remote sensed data and census information from the years 2000 and 2010. The results indicate that, globally, from the static perspective, metropolitan areas (MAs) had become more sprawl-like in 2010 than the year 2000. As income grew, urban sprawl usually became more severe. Moreover, from a dynamic perspective, all MAs had grown in a sprawling manner compared with the patterns in the base year of 2000 and within the same income group. The results provide evidence to explain the process of urban development, while at the same time assisting urban planners in considering the potential risks of urban sprawl and inefficient development at different stages of urban evolution.