The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per personPercentage of built-up area (PBA). Degree of urban dispersion (DIS) characterizes the settlement pattern in a geometric perspective and is based on the distances between any two points within built-up areas (average taken over all possible pairs of points, up to a maximum distance called the horizon of perception). The farther apart the two points, the higher their contribution to dispersion. This metric is expressed in urban permeation units (UPU) per m2 of built-up area. Higher values indicate a higher dispersion (between 0 and 49.7 UPU/m2). Dispersion is weighted by the w1(DIS) function to make those parts of the landscape where built-up areas are more dispersed more clearly perceived (w1(DIS) > 1), while compact settled areas are multiplied by a lower weighting (i.e. < 1).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person.Degree of urban dispersion (DIS) characterizes the settlement pattern in a geometric perspective and is based on the distances between any two points within built-up areas (average taken over all possible pairs of points, up to a maximum distance called the horizon of perception). The farther apart the two points, the higher their contribution to dispersion. This metric is expressed in urban permeation units (UPU) per m2 of built-up area. Higher values indicate a higher dispersion (between 0 and 49.7 UPU/m2). Dispersion is weighted by the w1(DIS) function to make those parts of the landscape where built-up areas are more dispersed more clearly perceived (w1(DIS) > 1), while compact settled areas are multiplied by a lower weighting (i.e. < 1).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per personPercentage of built-up area. Land uptake per person (inhabitants and jobs) LUP describes the use of urban built-up area by people working and living in that area. Built-up areas with many inhabitants and employees are considered to be better used and accordingly less sprawled. Accordingly, the metric includes a weighting factor, w2(LUP), which is always smaller than 1. When LUP is higher than 250 m2/inh. or job, the w2(LUP) is close to 1. When it is less than 100 m2/inh. or job (e.g., in downtown areas), the w2(LUP) is close to 0 because such areas are not considered to be sprawled. Accordingly, when utilization density is less than 4,000 inhabitants and jobs per km2, the weighting factor is close to 1, and when it is more than 10,000 inhabitants and jobs per km2, the weighting factor is nearly 0. The value of 4,500 inhabitants and jobs per km2 corresponds to the limit of 400 m2 of urban area per inhabitant (without taking jobs into consideration) suggested by the Swiss Federal Council in 2002 as a maximum acceptable average value (Swiss Federal Council 2008, p. 27).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person. Land uptake per person (inhabitants and jobs) (LUP) describes the use of urban built-up area by people working and living in that area. Built-up areas with many inhabitants and employees are considered to be better used and accordingly less sprawled. Accordingly, the metric includes a weighting factor, w2(LUP), which is always smaller than 1. When LUP is higher than 250 m2/inh. or job, the w2(LUP) is close to 1. When it is less than 100 m2/inh. or job (e.g., in downtown areas), the w2(LUP) is close to 0 because such areas are not considered to be sprawled. Accordingly, when utilization density is less than 4,000 inhabitants and jobs per km2, the weighting factor is close to 1, and when it is more than 10,000 inhabitants and jobs per km2, the weighting factor is nearly 0. The value of 4,500 inhabitants and jobs per km2 corresponds to the limit of 400 m2 of urban area per inhabitant (without taking jobs into consideration) suggested by the Swiss Federal Council in 2002 as a maximum acceptable average value (Swiss Federal Council 2008, p. 27).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per personPercentage of built-up area (PBA). PBA measures how large the built-up areas are (in % of the landscape). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because PBA is an intensive metric, i.e., the value does not depend on the size of the landscape.

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per personPercentage of built-up area (PBA) measures how large the built-up areas are (in % of the landscape). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because PBA is an intensive metric, i.e., the value does not depend on the size of the landscape.

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person.Besides WUP and its components, the next indicator was calculated: Utilization Density (UD). UD measures the number of people living and working per km2 of built-up area.

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person. Besides WUP and its components, the next indicator was calculated: Utilization Density (UD). UD measures the number of people living and working per km2 of built-up area.

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person. Besides WUP and its components, the next indicator was calculated:Urban Permeation (UP). UP is a measure of the permeation of a landscape by built‑up areas. UP is a product of PBA and DIS and describes the degree to which the landscape is permeated by patches of built-up area. It represents the spread of the built-up areas in the landscape. It is found useful to work with it in addition to the three components of WUP. UP is expressed in urban permeation units per m2 of land (UPU/m2). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because UP is an intensive metric, i.e., its value does not depend on the size of the landscape (Jaeger et al. 2010).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person Besides WUP and its components, the next indicators was calculated: Urban Permeation (UP). UP is a measure of the permeation of a landscape by built‑up areas. UP is a product of PBA and DIS and describes the degree to which the landscape is permeated by patches of built-up area. It represents the spread of the built-up areas in the landscape. It is found useful to work with it in addition to the three components of WUP. UP is expressed in urban permeation units per m2 of land (UPU/m2). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because UP is an intensive metric, i.e., its value does not depend on the size of the landscape (Jaeger et al. 2010b).

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person

The new urban sprawl metric, named „Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilization intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas, the dispersion of the built-up areas, and land uptake per person