Urban sprawl, defined by low-density expansion of urban areas, adds to land consumption. Negative associated environmental impacts include loss of fertile soils and biodiversity. The binding force of legal measures has the potential to steer urban development in the direction of sustainable land consol-idation and away from expansive development practices. This article explores the legal mechanisms helping and hindering land consolidation in the United States and Germany through a comparative

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... w analysis. A comparative law system is derived based on a general conceptual framework by comparing the different nuances in how the two legal systems address urban sprawl and analyzing the underlying reasons. This work adds to the continued discussion on legal avenues to combat land consumption and focus on more sustainable urban consolidation practices.