urban sprawl
nounDefinition of urban sprawl
: the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city
Examples of urban sprawl in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The discovery of the sarcophagus on a construction site last month was a rare find in Alexandria, a fabled port city where most traces of Egypt’s ancient civilizations have crumbled into the waves or lie buried beneath urban sprawl. — Declan Walsh, New York Times, "Sarcophagus Found. Contents Unknown. (‘No Guessing, Please.’)," 13 July 2018 The Melbourne projects aim to help find solutions to the city's expanding urban sprawl, worsening traffic congestion, and growing social isolation – all of which can contribute to problems like alcoholism and domestic violence. — Michael Taylor, The Christian Science Monitor, "Won't you be my neighbor: Melbourne experiments with community-led housing," 11 July 2018 Years of nearby urban sprawl have compromised the ability of some of these species to thrive, generating concern among environmentalists. — Michigan Wildlife Council, Detroit Free Press, "Polishing a gem: Plan aims for St. Clair-Detroit River system improvements," 10 July 2018 As more estates have been built on greenfield sites outside the center, the rise in urban sprawl has brought problems. — Michael Taylor, The Christian Science Monitor, "Won't you be my neighbor: Melbourne experiments with community-led housing," 11 July 2018 Today, urban sprawl has covered almost the entire former lakebed, and most of the city's water is pumped from beneath it. — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, "Can this environmental engineer—now elected mayor—fix Mexico City?," 2 July 2018 The city has passed development rules that were intended to reduce the impact of urban sprawl. — John Tedesco, San Antonio Express-News, "City says developer who clear cut trees was following rules," 29 June 2018 But for now, Ms Ding sees herself as a victim of urban sprawl, not the denizen of a seamless city cluster. — The Economist, "China is trying to turn itself into a country of 19 super-regions," 21 June 2018 Some of Ebacher’s environmental priorities include curbing urban sprawl by promoting development in concentrated areas and enforcing reforestation requirements for developers. — Libby Solomon, baltimoresun.com, "Meet the council candidates in central Baltimore County," 12 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'urban sprawl.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on urban sprawl
What made you want to look up urban sprawl? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Autumn Words of the Day 2018
-
- Which is a synonym of fugacious?
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share urban sprawl
Resources for urban sprawl