Abstract: A partition 𝒫 of a weighted graph G is (σ,τ,Δ)-sparse if every cluster has diameter at most Δ, and every ball of radius Δ/σ intersects at most τ clusters. Similarly, 𝒫 is (σ,τ,Δ)-scattering if instead for balls we require that every shortest path of length at most Δ/σ intersects at most τ clusters. Given a graph G that admits a (σ,τ,Δ)-sparse partition for all Δ > 0, Jia et al. [STOC05] constructed a solution for the Universal Steiner Tree problem (and also Universal TSP) with stretch O(τσ²log_τ n). Given a graph G that admits a (σ,τ,Δ)-scattering partition for all Δ > 0, we construct a solution for the Steiner Point Removal problem with stretch O(τ³σ³). We then construct sparse and scattering partitions for various different graph families, receiving many new results for the Universal Steiner Tree and Steiner Point Removal problems.