Author(s):
Soares, Maria Elisabete S. 
; Ramos, Rui A. R. ; Fonseca, Ana Maria D. B.
Date: 2012
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/23497
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Urban sprawl; Sustainable urban development; Indicators of urban sustainability; Multicriteria analysis model
Description
The disordered urban growth may prove catastrophic for the future of cities if preventive measures are
not taken. The increase of built-up areas, the growing need for implementation of urban infrastructures, the
resulting increase in soil sealing, the excessive consumption of natural resources, the elevated need for car use
on daily travels, the increase in travel distances, etc., are examples of the negative effects caused by urban
sprawl. In order to implement measures to halt or avoid the damage caused by urban sprawl on the
environment, society and economy, it is necessary to know which areas to intervene. In this sense, a
multicriteria analysis model is presented that combines sustainable development indicators, with the main
objective of calculating an index of sustainable urban expansion. This model, developed according to the
Analytical Hierarchy Process, comprises three levels of analysis. At the first level, the indicators of urban
sustainable development are aggregated and associated withsix criteria. The weighted aggregate of composite
indicators, which constitute the second level of analysis, allows evaluating different scenarios and studying the
level of influence of urban sprawl on the diverse dimensions. In the last level of analysis, an index is
calculated,resulting from the aggregation of all indicatorsconsidered along the hierarchical structure. Thus, the
proposed model allows quantifying the level of sustainability of urban sprawl, according to the lines of
sustainable development defined for this work, serving as a tool to support urban planning interventions.
