Urban sprawl has become the dominant urban development pattern in Estonia over the past two decades having various controversies in the light of the European territorial cohesion policy. The liberal planning practices and the use of ad hoc solutions on the large scale have resulted in chaotic urban structures. Current suburbanization trends, based on the idea of estate development in peri-urban zones, together with extended use of car transport, continue to represent an ideal for the majority of the population. The locations of new residential settlements are chosen according to the availability of land, mainly occupying agricultural land as well as pressurizing green network, resulting in widespread impacts on environmental sustainability. This study examines the extent of suburbanization in the urban fringe of Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia, from the perspective of how urban sprawl contributes to the residential and transportation energy use and related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. The aim is to provide a better understanding of whether it could be possible to reduce energy use by the implementation of improved urban land use planning. A paradox and irony seem to be that our buildings are gradually more efficient in terms of intensity (kWh/m²), but bigger and more apart. Therefore urban density and spatial organization are the key factors that influence energy consumption, especially in the transportation and building sectors. So the energy gains are consumed by the bigger house and the longer individual transport since public transport is not always available. To tackle these and other problems related to suburbanization effectively requires a policy response on a variable geographical scale, integrating local development initiatives and cooperation between different levels of administration.

Key words: land use, energy use, CO₂ emissions, suburbanization, physical planning