EU:EU funding for major road schemes has been one of the driving factors of urban sprawl in Europe, which consumed 1.92 million acres (800,000 hectares) of farmland in the 1990s alone, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
In a major report, Urban Sprawl in Europe - the Ignored Challenge, published today, the Copenhagen-based agency warns that such rapid unrestrained growth of urban areas "threatens Europe's environmental, social and economic balance".
Calling for an EU-wide policy to "co-ordinate and control" urban planning, the report forecasts that urbanisation - which already covers more than a quarter of the union's overall territory - will double in just over a century if current trends continue.
"Sprawling cities demand more energy, require more transport infrastructure and consume larger amounts of land. This damages the natural environment and increases greenhouse gas emissions [ causing] climate change, air and noise pollution," the report states.
Over the past 50 years, the trend towards lower densities in Europe has more than doubled the amount of space consumed per person. Over the past 20 years, built-up areas have increased by 20 per cent, while the population has increased by only 6 per cent.
One recent study showed the rapid spatial expansion of cities: more than 5 per cent in a decade - equivalent to three times the size of Luxembourg. Some of the areas most affected by urban sprawl are in countries with rapid economic growth, such as Ireland.
Factors driving sprawl "are rooted in the desire to realise new lifestyles in suburban environments" on the edges of cities, it says.
As a result, the number of kilometres travelled in urban areas by road is predicted to rise by 40 per cent between 1995 and 2030.
EEA executive director Prof Jacqueline McGlade said EU Cohesion and Structural Funds were "major causes of sprawl across Europe" and new member states should be given guidelines to avoid the pitfalls that a "sudden injection of funds can encourage".
Levels of car ownership in the 10 new member states are still lower than the EU-15, so further growth lies ahead.
"If nothing is done, road congestion is expected to increase significantly by 2010 and the costs of congestion will increase to approximately 1 per cent of EU GDP".
The report includes case studies from seven cities across Europe illustrating both good and bad approaches to urban planning over the past 50 years. As reported by The Irish Times last month, Dublin's sprawl is cited as one of the "worst-case scenarios".
However, the report stresses that sprawl is not a localised phenomenon but something that affects almost every European city.
Indeed, Europe is one of the most urbanised continents on earth, with 75 per cent of its population already living in urban areas.
By 2020, some 80 per cent of Europeans will be urbanised. In seven countries, including Belgium and The Netherlands, the proportion will be 90 per cent or more. "As a result, the demand for land in and around cities is becoming acute," according to the EEA.
"Sprawl is particularly evident where countries or regions have benefited from EU regional policies and funding. New development patterns can be observed around smaller towns or in the countryside, along transportation corridors and along many parts of the coast."
The report says planning policies "often reflect the logic of the market" when they should be reflecting "a vision of urban development, in which environmental and social considerations are fully embedded in spatial planning policies at all steps of the policy cycle".
