The urban sprawl in Europe and Latin America. A comparison of the growth of urban agglomerations

From 2001 until 2005 more than 40 researchers from 14 European countries collaborated in an EU-financed project to analyse in a comparative way the drivers, structures and dynamics of urban sprawl and urban. outskirts in eleven European urban agglomerations. One of their results a comparative matrix was presented, as well as a typology of the different performances of the urban sprawl in Europe. So it became possible to identify the structures as different phases of the sprawl, which can be denominated as suburbanisation, periurbanisation and post-suburbanisation. At the same time the Austrian Science Foundation financed another project, which was dedicated to analyse the structures, drivers and dynamics of Latin-American metropolises (case studies: Santiago de Chile and Mexico-City). In. Chile these studies could be deapened as the Chilean Research Funding Institution Fondecyt financed in, concequences some more projects with the collaboration of Chilean and Austrian researchers to identify the specifics of the urbanisation process in Chile. So it was possible to analyse profoundly the Metropolitan Regions of Santiago and Valparaiso. Based on a synthesis of the results in Europe and Latin America guidelines of the urbanisation in Europe and Latin America under the influences of the ongoing globalisation can be elaborated. It becomes clear, that, in spite of the effectiveness of global change as a main driver, the results are still quite different and can by classified as different phases of urbanisation.