Does urban sprawl drive changes in the water balance and policy?: The case of Leipzig (Germany) 1870–2003

Assessment of the environmental impact of urban sprawl being understood here as the conversion of non-urban to urban land is still a subject for debate. Another shortcoming of the current discourse on urban sprawl is that it largely fails to reflect the interconnection of environmental and socio-economic aspects. In presenting a case study on the German city of Leipzig and applying the conceptual framework of driving forces, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR-concept), this paper strives to assess the impact of urban sprawl on water balance and explores the repercussions of this impact upon the causation of and policies on urban sprawl. The study establishes that urban sprawl and related surface sealing have considerable impact on water fluxes and the urban water balance that may become imminent in the longer run. However, the study also shows that societal reactions on urban sprawl, first of all the attempts of both authorities and public initiatives to contain sprawl, are hardly motivated or influenced by concerns about environmental problems in a particular place (affected by urban sprawl). These attempts are mainly carried out on a national and regional level and reflect a general orientation in environmental politics rather than the desire to respond to individual urban developments. The study thus shows that the environmental impact of sprawl elicits only indirect repercussions in society.