"Sprawl <spròol> n. engl., used in ital. in the masculine. – An English term meaning 'expansion' (and as a verb form 'to spread out'). Referring to the city (urban s. or suburban s.) it is synonymous with phrases like 'dispersed city' and designates low-density expansions that consume a high amount of land, typical of many contemporary urbanized areas. The phenomenon, originating in the United States, is linked to the social diffusion of private transportation means, especially the automobile; constituting a highly favored settlement model, it has been successfully adopted on a global scale, taking on dimensions that are often concerning for the progressive erosion of agricultural areas since the 2000s, but also for its limited sustainability: in addition to the massive use of cars (with the inevitable increase in pollution and accident rates), it requires very extensive infrastructural networks, which are consequently costly to build and maintain. In Italy, sprawl is primarily present along the coastal areas, particularly the Adriatic, which have been strongly and irreversibly damaged from a landscape perspective, in the Po Valley, and around the largest metropolitan areas. The first signs of urban extension, as well as the use of the automobile, are not new, but since the 1990s of the 20th century, both have seen significant increases: sprawl has thus become a reality that now involves all industrialized countries and some emerging countries (regarding the mass adoption of car use, some scholars speak of 'car addiction' or 'auto addiction'). Many branches of geography are therefore interested in this phenomenon, particularly relevant and significant for understanding the change in the territorial organization of today’s societies, progressively developing some of its numerous facets according to the specificities of various geographical strands. Some focus on the 'consumption' of certain categories of land such as green spaces, agricultural areas, or more generally rural spaces (and the impact on their related ecosystems and biodiversity) and on their excessive landscape transformation due to building constructions and the creation of entire road networks: roads, electrical, water, sewage systems, etc. According to ISTAT (2012), in Italy, between 2001 and 2011, all urban centers recorded an overall increase in the surface area of inhabited locations and, except for the Venetian case and to some extent the Roman one, the largest variations are observed in neighboring municipalities or in municipalities adjoining neighboring ones and not in the regional capital municipality." Arcade Fire - Arcade Fire presents Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)