Different people have different definitions of sprawl.
To some people, sprawl is any expansion of the traditional city boundaries or urbanized areas. To other people, sprawl is residential development in agricultural, forest or open-space areas. According to one national expert, sprawl has occurred in almost every county of the United States, although it occurs in significant amounts in only about one-quarter of the nation's 3,000 counties. Most counties that contain significant sprawl have it in the form of low-density residential development that encroaches in rural and undeveloped areas. Some counties are characterized by nonresidential sprawl, commercial and industrial development.