Environmental acceptability of suburban sprawl around two differently sized Czech cities

ABSTRACT

Suburbanization and suburban sprawl are natural processes in a certain period of development of the city and its hinterland. According to studies devoted to suburban sprawl, this sprawl has many negative impacts on the environment. But if suburban sprawl creates compact and mutually separated suburban settlements based on the original villages, suburban localities with a high population density and suburban localities on poor land, then these impacts are relatively small, acceptable in the period of suburbanization development. This paper focuses on (1) the acceptability of the location of suburban localities in terms of the required compactness of suburban settlements, (2) the acceptability of population density in suburban localities in relation to the population density in city neighbourhoods with detached single-family houses and (3) the acceptability of agricultural land occupations for suburban localities in terms of the lowest land quality in these occupations. The analyzes were carried out in suburban settlements around Prague and the regional city of České Budějovice. Acceptable locations of suburban localities prevail there, but population densities are usually lower in suburban localities than in mentioned city neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, the most valuable agricultural land is located in the immediate vicinity of settlements, where suburban localities are developing.

KEYWORDS:

• Suburbanization
• outer suburb
• suburban sprawl
• suburban locality
• suburban density
• Czechia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Currently, 0.07 ha is usually set for new detached single-family houses and their gardens around Czech cities. If we add 0.03 ha for access roads, sidewalks and parking lots and 0.03 ha for various public areas, facilities and for public greenery, and 4 inhabitants per house, then the population density is 30.77 inhabitants per hectare.