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Self-Reinforcing Processes Governing Urban Sprawl in Belgium: Evidence over Six Decades

Author

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  • Ahmed Mustafa

    (Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, NY 10003, USA)

  • Jacques Teller

    (Local Environment Management and Analysis, Liège University, 4000 Liège, Belgium)

Abstract

Urban sprawl is widely acknowledged as an environmental and socio-economic challenge worldwide. This study examines urban sprawl in Belgium over six decades from 1950 to 2010. We assume that sprawl is a self-reinforcing process, i.e., sprawl is fueling further sprawl over time. The main objective of this study is to examine this assumption. We measure urban sprawl at four different levels in this study: country, regions, municipalities, and 1-km 2 cells. Three sprawl indices are employed: the degree of urban dispersion, degree of urban permeation of the landscape, and built-up land uptake per capita. These three indices consider both the growth of built-up areas and population density to measure the magnitude of sprawl. The drivers of urban sprawl have been analyzed at a 1-km 2 level. The examined drivers are previous urban dispersion patterns, distance to urban cores, elevation, and slope degree by means of linear regression. Urban sprawl significantly increased between 1950 and 1980, whereas its increase was more moderate between 1980 and 2010. Urban dispersion and permeation strongly affect the Brussels and Flanders regions. The results show that the increase in the degree of dispersion is locally driven by previous values of dispersion; i.e., it provides an adequate milieu for further dispersion. Therefore, our conclusion is that urban sprawl in Belgium tends to be a self-reinforcing process.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Mustafa & Jacques Teller, 2020. "Self-Reinforcing Processes Governing Urban Sprawl in Belgium: Evidence over Six Decades," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4097-:d:359274
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Mustafa, Ahmed & Cools, Mario & Saadi, Ismaïl & Teller, Jacques, 2017. "Coupling agent-based, cellular automata and logistic regression into a hybrid urban expansion model (HUEM)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 529-540.
    3. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Steenberghen, Thérèse & Thomas, Isabelle, 2009. "Mapping accessibility in Belgium: a tool for land-use and transport planning?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 39-53.
    4. Walter Musakwa & Adriaan van Niekerk, 2014. "Monitoring Urban Sprawl and Sustainable Urban Development Using the Moran Index: A Case Study of Stellenbosch, South Africa," International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research (IJAGR), IGI Global, vol. 5(3), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Gianni Guastella & Walid Oueslati & Stefano Pareglio, 2019. "Patterns of Urban Spatial Expansion in European Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xuanxuan Xia & Kexin Lin & Yang Ding & Xianlei Dong & Huijun Sun & Beibei Hu, 2020. "Research on the Coupling Coordination Relationships between Urban Function Mixing Degree and Urbanization Development Level Based on Information Entropy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Bernardino Romano & Lorena Fiorini & Alessandro Marucci & Francesco Zullo, 2020. "The Urbanization Run-Up in Italy: From a Qualitative Goal in the Boom Decades to the Present and Future Unsustainability," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Clemens de Olde & Stijn Oosterlynck, 2021. "Taking Implementation Seriously in the Evaluation of Urban Growth Management Strategies: “Safeguarding the Future” of the Antwerp City-Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Vermeiren, Karolien & Crols, Tomas & Uljee, Inge & De Nocker, Leo & Beckx, Carolien & Pisman, Ann & Broekx, Steven & Poelmans, Lien, 2022. "Modelling urban sprawl and assessing its costs in the planning process: A case study in Flanders, Belgium," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

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