Change of impervious space in German cities: A scaling law analysis

The study addresses the patterns of ground sealing for two different types of German cities during 2006 to 2018. By using urban scaling law and corresponding panel regressions, it can be shown that sealing of ground in the distribution of cities with own district administration is significantly stronger and more dynamic than in a corresponding distribution with a lower tail replaced by cities of comparable size but without own district administration. Different levels of per capita tax revenues in both city types appear to be the core reason for that. The findings are relevant for urban environmental policies.