Urban Sprawl: GCSE Geography Definition

What is urban sprawl?

In GCSE Geography, urban sprawl is the outward spread of urban land uses into rural areas.

Urban sprawl often begins as a ribbon development that extends the built-up area along the sides of main roads. The urban area surrounds and engulfs separate villages, making this region of the countryside the new rural-urban fringe. This means that the position of the rural-urban fringe is constantly changing.

In developed countries, urban sprawl happens when people move from the inner city to the outer fringes to find larger homes with gardens and avoid pollution, traffic, noise, and crime.

In countries experiencing rapid development, urban sprawl is a result of mass inward migration to cities that lack adequate housing. This leads to the development of informal settlements (slums) along the outskirts of the city.

Urban Sprawl Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

You can boost your GCSE geography grade by using our urbanisation flashcards and urban issues and challenges exam questions to revise the process of urban sprawl and related processes. 

Explore Our GCSE Geography Revision Resources