The sprawling urban patterns typical for the outskirts of many europen metropolitan areas seem to be amorphous and it is difficult to find references for describing them. However, for managing sprawl it seems important to have quantitative descriptors, which allow distinguishing different types of urban patterns and which are less ambiguous than traditional density measures. a better knowledge of these patterns should also point to the underlying context of urbanisation at their root. More concretely: to what extent are planned patterns different from less planned ones? Do planned or unplanned patterns show comparable morphological features?