Urban sprawl is an intrinsic dimension of urbanization, which underlies the processes of spatial diffusion occurring in most developed countries.

As modern cities become more complex also the phenomena of urban sprawl become increasingly faceted and diversified. One major aspect of novelty in the current trends is that sprawl does not only affect the use of land but has also an impact on the social, functional and economic spheres of urban life. It may also extend on different spatial levels, affecting not only cities and their surrounding areas but also whole metropolitan regions.

Although the phenomena of urban sprawl are specific of the urbanization and policy history of each country, in all situations, there is a mounting evidence that their consequences bear increasing economic, social and environmental costs which are major issues for the sustainability of our cities.

Urban sprawl as a common phenomenon is not yet perceived to have a relevance for the spatial development of German cities such as that recognized in other European countries. Few German regions appear be fully aware of its social and economic impacts. The Stuttgart Region is one of the few exception and is referred to in this study. Because of the availability of a comprehensive spatial data base, this regional case represents an exemplary case for studying empirically urban sprawl at a metropolitan and regional level.

Guenter Haag studied engineering and physics at the University of Stuttgart. He was visiting professor at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland in 1982 and at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Vienna in 1990. The appointment to an university lectureship came in 1985 and in 1995 he was appointed APL professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Stuttgart. In 1993 he became in addition managing director of the Institute for Applied Economic Research, Tuebingen. After two years he founded the Steinbeis Transfer Centre Applied System Analysis (STASA) in Stuttgart. He is member of different international working groups and has initiated and leaded several international projects in the field of urban and regional development and transport theory.