Flexible land-use and undefined governance: From threats to potentials in peri-urban landscape planning

Densification of cities is presently one of the dominating strategies for urbanization globally. However, how densification of cities is linked to processes in the peri-urban landscapes is rather unknown. The aim of this paper is to highlight the potentials in of peri-urban landscapes to be recognized as complementary providers of urban ecosystem services when green areas in cities are reduced by densification. We suggest that the way forward is to change the perceptions of peri-urban areas from being defined as located between cities and rural areas with a specific population density or a geographical distance, to become recognized as a landscape defined by its functionality. By identifying and describing the functionality in peri-urban landscapes the existing governance gaps can be recognized and thus dealt with through adaptation of existing planning tools. Although not yet articulated, peri-urban areas should be used to facilitate integration of top down and bottom up approaches and thereby closing the governance gaps. We illustrate this reasoning by two examples; one of the establishment of green wedges in Stockholm, Sweden, and the other with the establishments of international Model forests. We conclude that further densification of cities will create a lack of ecosystem services in cities by putting an even higher pressure on the peri-urban landscape and not as suggested today that densification lower pressure on peri-urban landscapes. Rethinking and reframing the peri-urban areas by adapting existing platforms will potentially contribute to a more nuanced discussion on strategies for urban development generally.     

Planning for peri urbanism: Navigating the complex terrain of transport services

Transport studies give an indication that peri-urban communities in developing countries, particularly Africa, are faced with poor urban transport services. While this notion is established, there remains a limited understanding of how residents in peri-urban communities cope with such a transport challenge. In view of this gap, this study explores the strategies employed to circumvent the challenges of poor transport services in peri-urban communities of Ghana. The study findings show that due to transport-related challenges such as poor roads in peri-urban communities, drivers from the city do not want to operate between the peri-urban areas and the city center. Rather, drivers convey residents of peri-urban communities only to the edges of peri-urban areas – a point they consider immotorable – making it difficult for them to connect to their homes. As a stop in the gap, there is an emergence of taxi stations at the edges of the peri-urban communities to connect commuters to their homes. Unfortunately, this emerging solution is characterised by safety issues as vehicles used are rickety and poorly maintained. These findings offer two major contributions to urban planning studies: First, it is the foremost research to provide understandings of an indigenous solution to lack of transport services in peri-urban communities. Secondly, it is an important research demonstrating the contributions of taxi drivers to the growth of peri-urban areas.     

Multifunctional peri-urban agriculture—A review of societal demands and the provision of goods and services by farming

Peri-urban areas around urban agglomerations in Europe and elsewhere have been subject to agricultural and land use research for the past three decades. The manner in which farming responds to urban pressures, socio-economic changes and development opportunities has been the main focus of examination, with urban demand for rural goods and services representing a driving factor to adapt farming activities in a multifunctional way. Working within the peri-urban framework, this review pays particular attention to the relevance of multifunctional agriculture. Academic discourses and empirical insights related to farm structure and practices beyond conventional agriculture are analysed. Diversification, recreational and environmental farming, landscape management and specialisation, as well as direct marketing are all taken into consideration and discussed within the context of landscape functions. The provision of rural goods and services is contrasted with societal demands on peri-urban agriculture. This review finds that multifunctional agriculture has been commonly recognised in peri-urban areas – a phenomenon that includes a large variety of activities and diversification approaches within the context of environmental, social and economic functions of agriculture. In response to the post-productive, consumption-oriented requirements of the urban society, peri-urban farmers have intensified their uptake of multifunctional activities. Nevertheless, not all multifunctional opportunities are being fully developed when one considers the large and growing urban demand for goods and services provided by agriculture carried out near the city. This paper discusses policy and planning approaches to support multifunctional agriculture in peri-urban areas.     

Reterritorialization practices and strategies of campesinos in the urban frontier of Bogotá, Colombia

Much of the research on urbanization has focused on how rural populations move to cities for work opportunities. This paper takes a different perspective on the relations between rural populations and urbanization. The livelihoods of rural dwellers on the outskirts of the city of Bogotá in Colombia are increasingly affected by the expansion of urban activities and infrastructure. Therefore, urbanization takes place in the areas of residence of the rural populations; these people do not migrate to the city but, rather, the city migrates to them. Consequently, rural ways of life face growing competition from the production of commodities and services on the urban-rural fringe, including quarrying and landfills serving the needs of industries and urban populations. We explore how rural populations and their livelihoods have transformed as a response to these urban dynamics and the expansion of the city. We focus on the strategies that the rural populations employ to deal with the physical and socio-ecological impacts of this change. The defense of peri-urban livelihoods through these strategies is simultaneously social and spatial and has been partially successful. However, increasing social and environmental inequality, including worsening access to land, water and vital ecological functions, tends to lead to a general reduction in the quality of life in the urban frontier.     

山西省城乡绿化的生态效益评价

[目的]城乡绿化对改善地区生态气候,提高空气环境质量具有重要作用。研究山西省城乡绿化规划带来的生态效益,为今后城乡规划提供理论依据。[方法]采用熵值法,在评定山西省11个地级市PM2. 5,PM10,二氧化硫,二氧化氮年平均浓度和空气质量达标天数等5个指标的基础上,综合分析2014—2016年山西省各地级市城乡绿化带来的生态效益。[结果] 2015年山西省城乡绿化带来的生态效益相比2014年和2016年较为明显。在各地级市中,大同市城乡绿化带来的生态效益明显高于其他城市,且各项指标评分均较高。大部分地区PM2. 5、PM10、二氧化氮和二氧化硫的浓度超出了国家二级标准要求,环境质量令人堪忧。[结论]山西省各地级市在城乡规划中应加大对绿化的投入,选择对空气具有净化作用的植物,加强对绿化植物的监管等,综合提高城乡绿化的生态效益,促进环境和社会经济的协调发展。     

Differentiating peri-urban areas: A transdisciplinary approach towards a typology

Peri-urban areas have no clear boundaries, both in geographic and conceptual terms. This paper presents a transdisciplinary approach for the identification of typologies of peri-urban areas and applies it to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Portugal. It is based on the assumptions that more than one type of peri-urban region around an urban core can exist, and that a transdisciplinary approach, linking the physical, economic, social and personal aspects, is needed to capture the intrinsic variability and the complexity of the peri-urban character. The approach is based on four sequential steps: (i) identifying the important peri-urban dimensions to be considered, based on expert-knowledge and stakeholder perspectives; (ii) defining a set of indicators for each dimension; (iii) summarizing redundant information for each dimension; and (iv) applying cluster analysis to identify typologies of peri-urban. This approach was applied to the 211 parishes comprised in the LMA. Seven types of parishes were identified, of which two can be considered urban and five peri-urban, although with quite distinct features. This approach has the potential to be applied to other metropolitan regions, and the resulting peri-urban (and urban) typologies can contribute to a better understanding of the peri-urban character, and to a more targeted implementation of planning and management strategies taking into consideration the diversity and specificities of each peri-urban type.     

徐州市生态宜居乡村综合评价与优化对策研究——基于对徐州市七个涉农区县乡村的实态调查

生态宜居乡村建设是乡村振兴的关键和重要目标之一。徐州市在推进宜居城乡建设中取得了一定的经验和启示。本文以徐州市七个涉农区县生态宜居乡村建设为研究案例,根据影响乡村人居环境评价的主客观因素,选取了四十项指标构建徐州市生态宜居乡村的评价指标体系,采用熵值法对指标进行了权重,对徐州市七个涉农区县进行评价。结果表明,徐州市乡村的生态宜居性与城市距离远近基本呈负相关变化,较偏远市县的乡村基础设施建设和乡村公共服务两方面比较薄弱,而近郊区县乡村受环境污染影响较大。因此近郊区县应以环境整治为重点,对重污染企业严格落实达标排放,提升环境质量;远郊市县要以发展乡村特色产业为中心,带动乡村基础设施建设,完善乡村公共服务,以推进和提升生态宜居乡村的建设水平。     

半城市化地区土地适宜性评价方法及应用——以厦门市集美区为例

研究目的:构建半城市化地区土地适宜性评价指标体系,促进农村与城市间过渡性区域的土地资源可持续利用。研究方法:将厦门市集美行政区域划分为农用地、建设用地和生态用地三种土地利用类型,选择合适的评价指标,基于遥感、地理信息系统、层次分析法、专家评分法等手段对每种土地利用类型的适宜性进行评价。研究结果:集美区适宜作为农用地、建设用地和生态用地的土地面积分别占总面积的11.7%、15.4%和1.6%,与当地土地利用实际比较吻合。研究结论:构建的土地适宜性指标体系和评价步骤可用于其他半城市化地区。     

Residential development in the peri-urban fringe: The example of Adelaide,South Australia

The peri-urban fringes of large metropolitan areas of Australia continue to experience major changes as natural and semi-natural landscapes are converted to built-up areas largely through increased residential development. These irreversible conversions are producing significant challenges for ecological and environmental protection. Yet, there has been little attempt to systematically analyse and model some of the key spatial features of these peri-urban fringes, especially in terms of examining factors underpinning new residential development. This paper attempts to fill this information gap using Adelaide, South Australia, as an exploratory case study. Using parcel-level data, we quantified spatial patterns of residential development during four consecutive periods (ten-year intervals between 1971 and 2010), revealing a gradual slow-down in the rate of new housing development after the 1980s. The effects of major roads and services, residents’ attraction to areas of high natural amenity, and previous residential development were estimated using logistic regression models and geographically weighted logistic regression models, respectively. Variation partitioning was used to examine the relative importance of three groups of predictors of residential development. Roads and services had the greatest impact on the pattern of residential development in the 1970s, while previous residential development ranked first among the three groups of forces in the last three time-periods. Influences relating to the attraction of natural amenities were of the least importance to peri-urban residential development during all four periods. These findings can help understand change mechanisms within peri-urban fringes and to develop corresponding policy responses to improve their management.     

Peri-urban agriculture in Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area and its relationship with the urban socioeconomic system

Peri-urban agriculture (PUA) has been proposed as an important urban element to deal with the challenges of increasing poverty, food insecurity, and environmental degradation as particularly found in rapidly expanding cities of the developing world. However, farming in the peri-urban is under strong pressure from urbanization. The economic and social roles of farming need to be better understood in order to integrate peri-urban agriculture into urban planning. This study used multivariate techniques and Geographically Weighted Regression to analyze statistical data at a village and sub-district, to explore the varying relationships between agricultural activities and urban economic activities, urban poverty and informality, as well as food security. This method was applied in the Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area (JMA) with Indonesia’s capital Jakarta at its core, and it resulted in some important findings. First, PUA was more associated with the increasing low and middle class residential areas and the growing small-middle scale urban economic activities rather than development of tourism and larger traditional market facilities. Second, whereas PUA in the North of JMA was under pressure by the increasing poverty, in the Southeast of JMA it has expanded concurrently with increasing poverty. Third, PUA is strengthened by increasing informal activities in the peri-urban zone that offer alternative jobs and additional income for the farmers. Fourth, PUA in the surroundings of Jakarta as well as in the East and Northeast of JMA has contributed to increasing food affordability as well as strengthening food security policy. Based on these results, recommendations to maintain the PUA have been formulated to support its role for the peri-urban economy, reduce poverty, manage informality, and increase food security.     

What is the most suitable methodological approach to demarcate peri-urban areas? A systematic review of the literature

Unexceptionally all metropolitan areas throughout the world are surrounded by peri-urban areas that are neither urban nor rural in the conventional sense. Peri-urban areas are transition spaces, where the changes in different land uses are incessantly occurring. Determining the boundaries of these areas are critical to develop appropriate policies to manage and preserve them. The perpetual transition in peri-urban landscapes makes the boundary demarcation of these areas highly difficult. This paper aims to answer the question of what the most suitable methodological approach to demarcate peri-urban areas is. In order to address this question, the study undertakes a systematic review of the relevant literature. The findings show that a generic method does not exist to demarcate peri-urban areas as characteristics of peri-urban areas are not uniform across the globe. This paper advocates that techniques for peri-urban demarcation should be geographically specific, and in every case the regional and local contexts–e.g., political system, institutional arrangement, societal characteristic, environmental qualities, and economic drivers that underpin the peri-urban development—should be considered. The study provides insights to policymakers in order to determine peri-urban boundaries by tailoring available peri-urban demarcation techniques to their regional and local contexts.     

国有林区生态生产总值GEP核算及生态贡献度研究

基于伊春市国有林区共计16个国有林业局在2017年度的年鉴统计数据及黑龙江省森林工业综合统计资料汇编中的相关数据,运用GEP生态生产总值的核算方法,研究了国有林区生态生产总值的核算方法以及生态贡献度问题。结果表明:由于国家采伐机制的限制,国有林区林业产品的生态价值难以转化为商业价值,但国有林区生态服务价值贡献度明显,生态文化服务的价值值得进一步开发。最后,提出应当转变核算思维、拓展核算思路;国有林区政府应当完善核算主体并健全核算体系;提高GEP的生态总值核算实务水平等建议。     

Of waste facility siting and relational geographies of place: Peri-urban landfills,community resistance and the politics of land control in Ghana

The siting of landfills in peri-urban spaces is seen as both a solution to land scarcity in inner cities and a development opportunity for rural hinterlands. Despite the widespread reliance on landfills for managing urban waste in Ghana, their operation tends to ignite land use conflicts at different scales. However, existing studies on the drivers of these conflicts have mostly failed to situate local resistance within the broader political economy of land control. Drawing on a longstanding landfill conflict in northern Ghana, this contribution shows how under the guise of landfills, the land question in peri-urban spaces is contested. While at face value the landfill struggle appears to be fuelled by the associated poor environmental conditions and health risks of waste from the inner city, our findings reveal the role of diverse incongruities including: (i) the crafty tactics deployed by state institutions in land acquisition for 'public interest', (ii) payment of unrealistic consideration, and (iii) diversion of designated public lands to undeclared uses. Amid these contestations, the notion of territorial belonging by peri-urban communities often runs counter to statutory ordering by the government who hold such hitherto private lands for ‘public interest’. Powerful local actors such as chiefs hide behind community agitations with hopes of controlling land if such contestations materialize. These dynamics have ramifications for the achievement of the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III, which focuses on secondary cities. A sustainable resolution of landfill-related conflicts must therefore begin with addressing the land question in peri-urban spaces.     

Public policy change and its impact on urban expansion: An evaluation of 265 cities in China

Public policies play a vital role in shaping our cities. However, the impact of public policies on the spatial expansion of urban areas needs to be better understood in order to achieve better policy outcomes. During the period of China’s economic reform, the central government of China has made many changes in three sets of public policies—regional development policies, the household registration (hukou) system, and urban land and housing market policies—to promote coordinated development of small, medium and large cities. This study aims to examine the effects of these public policy changes on urban expansion across 265 Chinese cities at or above prefecture level. We first quantify the spatial patterns of urban areas and evaluate the extent of urban sprawl of the 265 cities from 1995 to 2015 using multi-temporal land cover data. These cities are classified into six categories according to a city tier system used in China. Through a set of individual fixed-effects models, we then explore how changes in the three sets of policies have influenced urban expansion differently across different-tier cities. Results show that sprawling patterns of urban expansion, which have been more prominent in small and medium sized cities since 2000, are associated with shifts in policies to support stronger economic and population growth as well as real estate development. Our findings highlight the need for policymakers to take a holistic approach by considering the size of cities together with their social, environmental, and economic characteristics in order to minimise inequality and achieve coordinated urban development goals.     

开发区退化机制与退化模式研究——以湖北省武汉市开发区为例

土地合理利用需要正确处理与自然条件限制、生态环境质量、国民经济发展等因素的协调关系.充分发挥土地要素在城市功能中的作用,为在构建和谐社会的同时,获得最佳的社会、经济、生态效益提供科学依据.开发区发展方向的管理问题是目前一个受到学者极大关注的土地利用问题.通过针对开区域经济和管理结构的理论综述和针对国外企业园区和国内经济开发区进行比较研究,对开发区发展演化模型进行模拟,从而为开发区的空间布局、产业发展结构的调控和优化提供借鉴.     

Urban–rural ecological networks for landscape planning

Urban–rural landscape planning research is nowadays focusing on strategies and tools that support practitioners to design local areas where human and natural pressures interfere. A prominent framework is provided by ecological network studies, whose design regards the combination of a set of green areas and patches (nodes) interconnected through environmental corridors (edges). Ecological networks are key for biodiversity protection and enhancement, as they are able to counteract fragmentation, and to create and strengthen relations and exchanges among otherwise isolated elements. Biodiversity evolution, indeed, depends on the quantity and quality of spatial cohesion of natural areas. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework based on network modelling for the study and modelling of ecological networks. We use network properties and centrality measures (degree, clustering coefficient, and betweenness centrality) and take into account the intensity of the dispersal capacity by introducing the corresponding weighted centrality measures. We simulate the dynamics of ecological networks by monitoring the residual dispersal capacity and the number of connected components from three perspectives: random attacks, deterministic attacks according to decreasing betweenness centrality and influence of master plans. We demonstrate that spatial network analysis is useful to monitor the performance of ecological networks and support decision-making, management, and planning.The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of the peri-urban and urban areas of the town of Nuoro (Italy). Patches (nodes) have been selected among the ecosystems with target vegetal species Holm oak and cultivated and wild Olive while the connecting corridors (links) enable for seed dispersal.     

Urban lake spatial openness and relationship with neighboring land prices: Exploratory geovisual analytics for essential policy insights

Possessing ecological service functions, as well as social and economic values, urban lakes are an important part of urban open spaces. The improvement in the openness of urban lakes is crucial to enhancing the efficiency and fairness of urban land use. Accompanied by China's rapid urbanization, China's urban land prices continue to rise and the government relies on land finance. Meanwhile, the number of urban lakes is decreasing, the lake water surface area is shrinking, and water pollution is becoming more serious. By using exploratory indicators, this study quantifies the degree of openness of urban lakes, and focuses on the relationship between lake spatial openness and neighboring land prices. Taking Wuhan (China) as a study case, we proposed a conceptual framework to guide the analysis within the context of land use policy. Then, we created exploratory indicators to quantify the spatial openness of urban lakes and mapped the results. Afterward, we conducted an exploratory geovisual analytics of urban land prices and lake spatial openness. Finally, we used a regression model to examine the relationship between prices and openness. Our results show that our new indicators were able to reflect the openness of the lakes in the central urban area of Wuhan simply and effectively. The overall spatial openness is relatively high, the mean values of two main indicators reflecting the openness percentage of the lakes are 69.91 % and 67.57 % respectively. However, there are still obvious regional differences between the openness indicators. The relationship between openness and neighboring land prices is spatially heterogeneous. Based on our analysis, we finally propose policy suggestions for protecting urban lakes and rational land use in the rapid urban expansion occurring in developing countries.     

长江经济带生态效率空间异质性及其影响因素研究

以长江经济带107座城市为研究对象,采用超效率SBM方法对2005—2016年城市生态效率时空演变特征进行评价,并建立广义系统GMM估计模型,探讨生态效率的影响因素。综合而言,城市生态效率存在正向时间滞后效应,总体呈波动上升趋势,且流域间差距逐步缩减,部分区域空间集聚态势加强,长江三角洲、成渝等地"高-高"集聚特征明显,而南昌、贵阳等周边地区负向集聚效应显著;产业升级的二维指标对生态效率存在异质性作用,产业结构高级化抑制生态效率进步,产业结构合理化则促进生态效率发展;同时发现,环境EKC假说和"污染光环"假说在长江经济带依然成立。     

Population-dynamics focussed rapid rural mapping and characterisation of the peri-urban interface of Kampala, Uganda

In developing countries, cities are rapidly expanding and urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has an important role in feeding these growing urban populations; however such agriculture also carries public health risks such as zoonotic disease transmission. It is important to assess the role of UPA in food security and public health risks to make evidence-based decisions on policies. Describing and mapping the peri-urban interface (PUI) are the essential first steps for such an assessment. Kampala, the capital city of Uganda is a rapidly expanding city where the PUI has not previously been mapped or properly described. In this paper we provide a spatial representation of the entire PUI of Kampala economic zone and determine the socio-economic factors related with peri-urbanicity using a population-dynamics focussed rapid rural mapping. This fills a technical gap of rapid rural mapping and offers a simple and rapid methodology for describing the PUI which can be applied in any city in developing countries for wide range of studies.