sprawl vs populated area

sprawl and populated area both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
sprawl	Yes	No	Yes	No
populated area	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, populated area is a hypernym of sprawl; that is, populated area is a word with a broader meaning than sprawl:

Other hypernyms of sprawl include urban area.

sprawl (noun)	populated area (noun)
an ungainly posture with arms and legs spread about	a geographical area constituting a city or town
an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

sprawl (verb)	populated area (verb)
sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way