The impact of urban sprawl on the urban-rural fringe of post-socialist cities in Central and Eastern Europe – Case study from Hungary

Urban sprawl has a wide-ranging impact on the urban-rural fringe of the post-socialist cities, which are the most dynamically changing areas of the countryside in the Central and Eastern European countries. Intensive construction activity and population growth can be seen in the outskirts. Due to the lack of local spatial planning and land-use management in these areas, the environment was severely damaged during sprawl. On the fringes of the administrative area of the cities, there are huge differences in the housing conditions, character of the buildings and residential environments, and social status. To better understand the phenomenon, we investigated two Hungarian cities: Győr and Kecskemét. Both regional centers have large outskirts, and Kecskemét's catchment area has many scattered farms, even in international comparison. During our research, we conducted systematic fieldwork and in-depth interviews (n ​= ​30) and implemented quantitative (GIS) and statistical analysis to gather critical features of the transformation of the urban-rural fringes. According to our results, a highly fragmented spatial structure has emerged due to the lack of local government resources and will. Urban sprawl causes complex environmental problems, such as landscape degradation and social segregation, and raises the question of the unsustainability of buildings and construction in the outskirts. •Urban sprawl has a wide-ranging impact on cities in Central-East Europe.•The sprawl has adverse effects on the built environment.•Spatial fragmentation and illegal activities cause damage in the outskirts.•Local governments are unable to control the urbanization processes.•Adverse spillover effects worsen the social factors as well.