Urban sprawl is a major challenge of contemporary urban development, manifested through the horizontal, dispersed, and largely unplanned expansion of cities, and associated with profound environmental, social, and economic consequences. This study aims to examine the role of good urban governance in controlling urban sprawl in the city of Maragheh. A mixed methods research design was employed, integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches. Land use change and the spatial pattern of urban expansion were analyzed using processed Landsat satellite imagery for the years 2000, 2014, and 2025. In parallel, the impacts of good urban governance components on urban sprawl were assessed through the distribution of 383 Likert scale questionnaires and the application of one sample t tests, analysis of variance, and stepwise regression analysis. The results reveal that over the past two and a half decades, Maragheh has experienced a 70% increase in built up land, mainly resulting from the conversion of 346 hectares of fertile agricultural land and 683 hectares of barren land. Although urban growth has shown a relative orientation toward eastern barren areas, development during this period has been accompanied by the gradual degradation of agricultural lands within the Sofi Chay valley, as well as the emergence of the alarming phenomenon of leapfrog development and the construction of garden houses within agricultural areas.

Statistical findings indicate that the mean values of good urban governance components are below the average level, whereas urban sprawl indicators and their consequences are above average.