Abstract

Increasing awareness of the negative effects of urban sprawl has made this phenomenon a topic of great debate. However, there still are no agreed methods for measuring this phenomenon. This thesis uses the current and historical data and applies the newly developed metrics of urban permeation and weighted urban proliferation to measure the level of urban sprawl in the Montreal and Quebec census metropolitan areas over the past sixty years. This study also compares the two study areas with Zurich metropolitan area with regard to urban sprawl and its change over time.
The results indicate that since 1951, and more significantly during the past 25 years, urban sprawl has been rapidly increasing in the Montreal and Quebec census metropolitan areas. In Zurich, the sharpest increases of urban sprawl occurred during the period 1960 to 1980. Three major reasons for this striking difference in sprawl dynamics are the planning laws legislation since 1979 in Switzerland, the much lower level of public transportation availability in Montreal and Quebec and the polycentric settlement structure in Zurich.
The comparative assessment of urban sprawl presented in this study can be used for scenario analysis and decision-making. Its results provide a basis for monitoring and controlling urban sprawl and its negative consequences and thus, would greatly help land-use planners critically assess projected plans.
The thesis also provides an assessment of Entropy, which is among the mostly used methods for measurement of urban sprawl. The results showed that Entropy is not a reliable method since it does not meet fundamental criteria for the measurement of urban sprawl.