Environmental impact assessment of uncontrolled urban sprawl in a peri-urban area: A case study of Cluj-Napoca municipality, Romania

This paper aims to investigate the environmental impact of uncontrolled urban sprawl on the peri-urban Fagetul Clujului wooded area. This area is a partially conserved peri-urban forest and a ROSCI Natura 2000, located in the southwestern part of Cluj-Napoca Municipality in Romania. To assess the environmental impact, a standardized checklist based on national regulations and a modified rapid impact assessment matrix (RIAM) were used to obtain environmental scores for 30 key points in the area. The QGIS and IDW (Inverse Distance Weighting) methods were used to combine the main assessment scores to create a general impact map. The assessment outcomes confirm that there are significant negative impacts on environmental components in this peri-urban wooded area, such as abiotic and biotic components, in those peripheral areas that are recently built, developed, or expanding. This study provides an effective, transparent, and integrated methodology for assessing the impact of uncontrolled urban sprawl on the environment. It can help local decision-makers and experts in designing and developing sustainable strategies for environmental management and urban planning.