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.     

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.     

The “sowing of concrete”: Peri-urban smallholder perceptions of rural–urban land change in the Central Peruvian Andes

Policy makers concerned with the peri-urban interface find their greatest challenges in the rapid urban growth of developing mountain regions, since limitations caused by relief and altitude often lead to an increased competition between rural and urban land use at the valley floors. In this context, little attention has been paid to the affected agriculturalists’ perceptions of peri-urban growth—important information required for the realization of sustainable land use planning. How is the process of rural–urban land change perceived and assessed by peri-urban smallholder communities? Which are the major difficulties to be overcome? By what means are the affected people reacting and how are these adaptation strategies linked with the ongoing landscape transformations of the hinterland?By using the example of Huancayo Metropolitano, an emerging Peruvian mountain city, it is shown that rural–urban land change is intensively discussed within peri-urban smallholder groups. Although urbanization also leads to infrastructure investments by public institutions—an advantage perceived throughout the study area—the negative impacts of rural–urban land use change prevail. The perceptions’ analysis reveals that the decrease of fertile and irrigated agricultural land at the quechua valley floor is especially considered to threaten subsistence, food and income security. In order to compensate the loss of production capacities, many smallholders try to expand or intensify their land use at the suni altitudinal belt: an agro-ecological zone characterized by steep and nonirrigated slopes that can actually not be used for the year-round production of crops previously cultivated at the quechua zone.     

Drivers of informal settlements at the peri-urban areas of Woldia: Assessment on the demographic and socio-economic trigger factors

Though Ethiopia is one of the least urbanized countries of the world, its urban areas are expanding rapidly. Woldia, which is a Zonal town is no exception to this trend and situation. As a result of its rapid horizontal expansion and growth, Woldia is currently confronted with different types of urban problems. The emergence and growth of informal settlements is one of these challenges. To that end, this paper investigates the foremost demographic and socio-economic triggering factors that played key roles for the growth of informal settlements at the peri-urban areas of Woldia. In order to achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire survey covering a total of 244 sample households was carried out in addition to in-depth interviews, FGDs and key informants. Accordingly, the income disparity; the rise in the lease price of urban land, and the meager compensation paid to peri-urban farmers during their lands expropriation are among the key economic drivers for the growth of informal settlements. Similarly, ever-increasing urban population and inefficient land provision, and lack of housing affordability compounded by the rise in the rental accommodation are the other triggers factors. All these factors, among others, point to the fact that socio-economic and demographic factors are all tied to the immediate growth of such settlements. Thus, lands at the periphery are misused and the situation has greatly contributed to the unlawful and rapid expansion of built-up areas in the city administration.     

Characterization of urban and peri-urban agroecosystems in three West African cities

Systems of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) take many forms in terms of integration of different activities, production intensities and production orientations. The present study is aimed at a refined characterization of the diversity in terms of production orientation, resource endowments and production strategies of the different types of farm households involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture in three West African cities. A total of 318 UPA households were surveyed using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire in the West African cities Kano (Nigeria), Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Sikasso (Mali). Through categorical principal component analysis and two-step cluster analysis, six distinct household clusters were identified based on resource endowments and the degree of integration of vegetable, field crop and animal production. Three clusters appeared in all three cities; the remaining three were specific for one of the cities each and comprised (i) commercial gardening plus field crop–livestock (cGCL) keeping, (ii) commercial livestock plus subsistence field cropping (cLsC), (iii) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial field cropping (cGscC), (iv) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial livestock (cGscL) keeping, (v) commercial field cropping (cC) and (vi) commercial gardening (cG). Production constraints were similar across the cities, that is, high costs of inputs, water shortages and lack of fertilizers in the garden and field crop production systems, while feeding constraints and animal diseases were the main constraints in livestock production. UPA remains an important economic activity to livelihood strategy for urban and peri-urban farmers. Appropriate policies should be formulated that efficiently target the site-specific constraints for improving the quality and sustainability of UPA production systems.     

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.     

Into the urban wild: Collection of wild urban plants for food and medicine in Kampala,Uganda

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. While urbanisation causes landscape changes, little is known of how this process affects the use of wild plant resources by urban populations. This study contributes to addressing this knowledge gap by exploring the prevalence and determinants of urban collectors of wild plants in Kampala, Uganda. During February to August 2015, 93 structured interviews were conducted in inner, outer, and peri-urban areas of the city. The findings in this study show that urban wild plants are used by almost half (47%) of the respondents, mainly for medicinal purposes but also as a complement to diets. The findings further indicate that residents with lower income, of younger age (<51 years old), and predominantly living in peri-urban areas are more likely to be urban collectors. Seasonality appears to be of greater importance in collection of food plants than of medicinal plants. Overall, these findings indicate that wild plants occupy an important role in the livelihoods and traditions of Kampala’s residents, and we argue that this should be taken into account in urban planning projects.     

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.     

Toward a systemic analysis of city-agriculture interactions in West Africa: A geography of arrangements between actors

Despite the importance of urban agriculture in developing countries, urban agriculture is not well understood by public authorities. This lack of knowledge impedes its inclusion in public policies of urban planning. A substantial body of literature deals with urban agriculture but little research has analyzed the multidimensional city-agriculture interactions facilitating its enduring presence within the city. We suggest the hypothesis that informal processes are at the core of the persistence of urban agriculture and propose the concept of socio-spatial arrangements (SSAs) between the actors. To study urban agriculture in Bobo-Dioulasso, a West African city, we propose to develop a geography of arrangements to understand the social and spatial characteristics of SSAs and the way they influence urban agriculture development. Taking the example of market gardeners and pig breeders, we highlight how farmers overcome urban constraints through localized social networks. Results show that arrangements between the actors are at the core of the persistence of urban agriculture. We underline two different socio-spatial morphologies (SSMs) of urban agriculture according to differences in urban agriculture characteristics. These SSMs illustrate how market gardeners and pig breeders integrate differently into the urban space. The systemic approach of studying arrangements between actors helps us understand how urban farming activities function, and how they are connected to each other and to the urban and regional system, thus building a picture of an agri-urban system. We discuss the policy and theoretical implications of this research. This study is aimed at providing a better understanding of urban agriculture that can enhance its consideration as a viable component of the city.     

Urban agriculture and sanitation services in Accra,Ghana: the overlooked contribution

While urban agriculture has long been valued for providing food security and nutrition within cities, it contributes to many other urban services that are seldom cited as rationales for protecting or even expanding urban food production. Articulating the actual and possible contributions of urban agriculture to municipal sanitation and health services is critical for sustaining these urban farms and their functions into the future. In the context of the low coverage and performance of wastewater treatment plants in Accra, Ghana, health risk reduction measures implemented on and off farm can substitute to a large extent for this absence of conventional wastewater treatment. We estimate that Accra generates approximately 80,000,000L of wastewater per day, of which urban vegetable farms alone use up to 11,250,000L. By mitigating the health risks for farmers and consumers associated with widespread wastewater irrigation, these urban farms have the potential to significantly contribute to the city's sanitation needs. This could allow partial outsourcing of public health services from treatment plants to the farm, where wastewater is considered an asset instead of a problem. Urban agriculture could also significantly support buffer zone management along streams and rivers, resulting in a reduction of solid waste dumping and environmental pollution, but most importantly an improvement in flood control and related public health challenges. While urban agriculture is not the panacea for addressing these urban challenges, it can significantly contribute to their solution.     

Policy, milk and the Dar es Salaam peri-urban zone: a new future for an old development theme?

This paper provides an analysis of 50 years of policy aimed at ensuring an adequate milk supply to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Despite a variety of policy approaches and initiatives, providing the city with milk continues to be problematic. The use of the peri-urban zone for dairy production is one of several recurring themes, however, even with an expanding market there has been relatively little development of commercial dairying in this zone. This history is used to assess the more recent interest in the potential contribution of the peri-urban zone to sustainable urban food supplies. The paper argues that policy and development initiatives along these lines must specifically consider the relative suitability of the peri-urban zone vis-à-vis the production of specific commodities as well as potential market opportunities. Those interested in promoting peri-urban agriculture as an element of more sustainable cities cannot afford to take a narrow view that ignores either agro-ecological, economic and regional realities.     

Poverty,food intake,and malnutrition: implications for food security in developing countries

The relation between household income, food intake, and nutritional status in less developed countries is examined, and a framework that explicitly relates household behavior patterns with public policy options designed to improve the nutritional status of the rural and urban poor is presented. For rural areas, nutritional and health status depends largely upon the levels of private inputs provided by households. In turn, level depends upon income. Consequently, increasing income may also lead to improvements in nutrition and health status. Regrettably, post-World War II development strategy in most developing countries has undervalued the potential contribution of agricultural development to economic development. Domestic economic policies practiced thus far have most probably had serious negative effects upon the nutrition and heal status of the poorest segments of developing nations. Economic development policy reform is therefore called for as a measure to alleviate rural poverty in developing countries.     

青岛地区休闲农业空间布局及发展模式研究

青岛地区休闲农业的迅速发展,对于促进农村经济发展,协调城乡统一发展起到重要的推动作用。现阶段,青岛地区休闲农业成为农村经济和农民增收的新的增长点,创建全国休闲农业与乡村旅游示范县2个、示范点8个。青岛市休闲农业分布整体上呈扇形放射性分布,形成五大扇形分布区,体现出近郊集中及远郊分散的分布特点。文章对青岛市休闲农业布局和模式选择的方法和重点进行了研究,青岛地区已经形成多种成熟的休闲农业发展模式,包括"农家乐"模式、农业科技观光园模式、渔业休闲模式等。在此基础上,对青岛市休闲农业空间布局和发展模式存在的问题进行了分析,并指出青岛地区休闲农业发展思路定位及策略,提出发挥乡土文化,提高体验效果、加强区域规划,提高运营水平、实现休闲农业的融合化及国际化等发展建议,以期为青岛地区休闲农业的持续发展提供参考。     

大连市乡村旅游空间结构演化研究

在政策和市场的双重推动下,乡村旅游在我国大部分地区呈现快速扩张的发展态势,为解决三农问题、城市化问题提供了诸多选择和途径。在快速发展过程中旅游产业要素在一定地域空间内的组合方式、分布状态及经营效果,对区域乡村旅游的健康持续发展有着决定性影响。文章从空间结构视角对大连市乡村旅游发展进行回顾,选取了大部分近城郊区,如金州新区、甘井子区、旅顺口区等地作为案例实证对象,总结出大连市乡村旅游在不同阶段的演变形态和特征,并归纳了乡村旅游空间结构存在的问题。研究表明:大连市乡村旅游在不同时期具有不同的空间结构形态,经历了点-点离散阶段、旅游增长极阶段、旅游区(带)阶段、旅游集聚区(群)阶段4个演化阶段;在演化过程中存在乡村旅游在行政区内发展不均衡、旅游空间错位等空间问题和乡村旅游客源市场单一等市场问题。     

论生态城市建设中发展都市农业的必要性

建设生态城市是人们追求的共同目标,低碳、节能、环保成为区域各项产业可持续发展的基本要求。都市农业作为高效、节能、高技术、可持续的新兴产业与生态城市建设相结合,是区域生态环境与社会经济协调发展的必然选择。文章首先介绍了生态城市的内涵和意义;另一方面,对都市农业的内涵和功能也进行了梳理,在此基础上分析了建设生态城市与发展都市农业之间的相互关系。指出了生态城市建设中发展都市农业的必要性,即两者相结合的价值与意义:都市农业的发展有助于调控城市的非理性扩张和蔓延,是城市可持续发展和彰显城市特色的重要手段和方法。最后,文章提出了在生态城市建设中发展都市农业的几点思考与建议。指出生态城市建设中发展都市农业的实现路径主要包括:一是对都市农业发展合理布局、科学规划,在生态城市建设中打造都市农业品牌,以农产品基地形成规模经济;二是相关部门实现联动,共同实施建设生态城市都市农业。     

Horse riding posing challenges to the Swedish Right of Public Access

Increasing numbers of horses are being kept for sports and leisure purposes in peri-urban areas throughout the Western world. This expansion of the equestrian sector represents a multifunctional transition, with new production of rural goods and services and increasing influence on land use.In Sweden, the number of horses has increased from 70,000 to approximately 300,000 over the last 30 years. This increase is putting pressure on the traditional Right of Public Access, an old custom allowing the public to walk, cycle or ride on private or state-owned property.This paper analyses multifunctional land use in peri-urban areas in order to provide a deeper understanding of the potential conflicts arising due to the expanding equine sector and to assess how these can affect the Swedish right of public access and spatial planning.A survey of horse riders and landowners in three peri-urban regions of Sweden revealed that these groups differ in their attitudes towards the Right of Public Access. The data also showed that the expanding equine sector is generating new demands on rural areas and there are questions regarding how the current system of open accessibility can meet the increasing market for equestrian leisure activities. The main conclusion is that there seems to be a strong need for intervention and deliberate creation of new ways of handling the accessibility question, where both a bottom-up and top-down approach may be useful.     

Africa's changing farm size distribution patterns: the rise of medium‐scale farms

This study assesses changes over the past decade in the farm size distributions of Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia, drawing on two or more waves of nationally representative population‐based and/or area‐based surveys. Analysis indicates that much of Sub‐Saharan Africa is experiencing major changes in farm land ownership patterns. Among all farms below 100 hectares in size, the share of land on small‐scale holdings under five hectares has declined except in Kenya. Medium‐scale farms (defined here as farm holdings between 5 and 100 hectares) account for a rising share of total farmland, especially in the 10–100 hectare range where the number of these farms is growing especially rapidly. Medium‐scale farms control roughly 20% of total farmland in Kenya, 32% in Ghana, 39% in Tanzania, and over 50% in Zambia. The numbers of such farms are also growing very rapidly, except in Kenya. We also conducted detailed life history surveys of medium‐scale farmers in each of these four countries and found that the rapid rise of medium‐scale holdings in most cases reflects increased interest in land by urban‐based professionals or influential rural people. About half of these farmers obtained their land later in life, financed by nonfarm income. The rise of medium‐scale farms is affecting the region in diverse ways that are difficult to generalize. Many such farms are a source of dynamism, technical change, and commercialization of African agriculture. However, medium‐scale land acquisitions may exacerbate land scarcity in rural areas and constrain the rate of growth in the number of small‐scale farm holdings. Medium‐scale farmers tend to dominate farm lobby groups and influence agricultural policies and public expenditures to agriculture in their favor. Nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from six countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) show that urban households own 5–35% of total agricultural land and that this share is rising in all countries where DHS surveys were repeated. This suggests a new and hitherto unrecognized channel by which medium‐scale farmers may be altering the strength and location of agricultural growth and employment multipliers between rural and urban areas. Given current trends, medium‐scale farms are likely to soon become the dominant scale of farming in many African countries.     

关于加快武汉都市农业发展的探讨

都市农业以其区域优势、生态环境保护、观光休闲、生产高效等多种功能，在我国广泛引起重视，并在各大城市迅速发展，由此大大加快了我国城乡一体化进程。该文根据武汉市自然资源和都市农业发展现状，针对存在的难点和问题，提出了相应对策。     

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.     

Drivers of sustainable intensification in Kenyan rural and peri-urban vegetable production

Sustainable intensification promotes environmentally sound and productive agriculture. However, use of sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) is low in many sub-Sharan African countries. This study examined the adoption of SIPs in Kenyan rural and peri-urban vegetable production to understand the scale of and underlying factors in the use of SIPs. A multistage sampling technique was employed to randomly select 685 rural and peri-urban vegetable farm households. Household data was then collected and anaylsed for four practices namely improved irrigation, integrated soil fertility, organic manure and crop diversification using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. A multivariate probit model was run to model simultaneous interdependent adoption decisions. Adoption of organic manure and African indigenous vegetables (AIV) diversification was high in both rural and peri-urban areas. However, adoption of improved irrigation systems and integrated soil fertility management was low, and even significantly lower in rural areas than in peri-urban areas (p?相似文献