This document discusses features of the peri-urban interface in metropolitan areas. It notes that the PUI is where urban and rural activities meet and it is often subject to rapid change. In environmental terms, the PUI contains a mosaic of natural, agrarian and urban ecosystems affected by flows from rural and urban systems. Politically and institutionally, the PUI can experience fragmentation or vacuums due to ill-defined roles and conflicts over land and resource rights. The document provides several examples and studies on these characteristics of the peri-urban interface.

1. DPU, UCL
Module DA1 – Session 14
Development, environment and
the peri-urban interface
Julio D Dávila
Development Planning Unit
University College London
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

2. Some features of the peri-urban interface
in metropolitan areas 1
A. The PUI is where urban and rural activities meet:
• Definition of ‘urban’, ‘rural’, ‘peri-urban’ (or ‘semi-urban’): often
vague, shifting, subject to perceptions
• Implications of political and administrative definitions and changes
in these (e.g. upgrading or degrading of townships; creation or
abolition of metropolitan areas): fiscal and human resource;
electoral; managerial
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

3. Some features of the peri-urban interface
in metropolitan areas 2
B. In environmental terms:
• A heterogeneous ‘mosaic’ of ‘natural’, ‘agrarian’ and ‘urban’ eco-
systems
• Affected by material and energy flows demanded both by rural and
urban systems
• Close relationship between socio-economic and environmental
processes
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

4. Some features of the peri-urban interface
in metropolitan areas 3
C. Dynamic and socially & economically heterogeneous
• Often subject to rapid change (e.g. land use, population)
• Co-existence of groups with different and often competing
interests, as well as different practices
• Constant change makes it difficult to create stable and legitimate
long-term institutional structures
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

5. Some features of the peri-urban interface
in metropolitan areas 4
D. Political and institutional fragmentation or even
vacuum
• Issues of definition and perception have administrative, fiscal and
human resource implications
• Roles are often ill-defined or non-existent
• Conflict between customary and non-customary land tenure and
water rights
• Private appropriation of large (and environmentally valuable)
spaces without adequate state regulation (gated communities, golf
courses, quarries, forests)
• All this requires a new conceptual and methodological framework
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

6. Rural systems Rural – Urban Flows Urban systems
Structural changes Functions/role
People
Non-agricultural
employment
Socio-economic
Production Urban services
structure and
relations Production supplies
Commodities Non-durable and
Rural economy durable goods
(sectors) Capital/income Markets for selling
rural products
Rural production Information Processing /
regimes manufacturing
Information on
Natural resources
employment,
production, prices,
W aste and pollution welfare services
Source: Based on Douglass, M. 1998, ‘A Regional Network Strategy for Reciprocal Rural-Urban Linkages’,
Third W orld Planning Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp 1-33.
Source: Allen & Dávila (2002)
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

7. Processes of change in the PUI
Pressures Processes of Problems
Change Loss of
agricultural land,
Local leading to a
e.g. land competition Changes in land use loss of livelihoods
for urban expansion e.g. from agricultural to for poor farmers
& agricultural industrial or and shortages
production residential uses in food production
Regional &
national Changes in the use
e.g. promotion of on natural resources Opportunities
decentralised e.g. deforestation, New sources of
industrialisation, water depletion and Employment
Privatisation of pollution Land for low-cost
natural resources Housing
Better transport links
International Changes in the Improved access to
e.g. Falling prices of infrastructure and
generation of waste
export crops social facilities
e.g. increased solid
and liquid waste
Source: Allen & Dávila (2002)
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

8. Lessons from international
program m es and projects
W ater & Sanitation Progra m mes C FP/C ID A, U PA/F AO , U N C H S/U M P , SC P, L A21,
Who?
U N D P/W ord Ban k, W H O ,U N IC EF N R S P/D F ID , C AR E, M E IP, U N D P, IC L E I L A21 &
U S A ID , C ID A, C AR E, O XFAM SA V E, U N D P M odel C o m mun ities
Built-up areas R ural V illages an d C ity and bu ilt-up surroundings
Conceptualisation
Poor inform al urban periphery Peri-U rban fring e
settle ments R ural-urban links Particular PU prob le ms
Peri-urban fring e
H ealth - Education Peri-urban H orticu lture
Infrastructure PU Agriculture U rban Env ironm enta l
PU F orestry Pla nnin g and
Themes
Safety nets
M icro-credit N atural R esources M anage me nt
Source: Budds & Minaya (1999)
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

9. Rural-urban linkages and poverty
How is poverty conceptualised:
Poverty is the result of a complex process of social, juridical, spatial,
economic, and political exclusion
Poverty cannot be reduced to income alone
‘The poor’ are not a homogeneous group; neither are the different
members of the same household
This supposes access to a diversity of livelihood assets (social, natural,
financial, physical, human)
Rural-urban linkages can become important in a survival strategy for the
very poor
This will depend on the physical location of different household
members (which changes over time), as well as other factors such as
gender, migrant status, political affiliation, ethnicity, religion
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

10. n In the processes described above, different groups will be affected
differently from rural-urban linkages
n This will depend on the degree of access to factors such as proximity
to urban centres, access to land, access to natural resources and
participation in political processes
n Hence, legal, political, social, spatial, environmental and economic
policies and frameworks of intervention will play a crucial role in
guaranteeing or blocking access to such factors
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

11. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Land:
The most visible dimension of urban growth
Shifts from rural to urban use will affect some groups more than
other (e.g. Older women in Kumasi, Ghana)
With growth, and without a legal framework to protect them,
landless farmers and small farmers are forced to move away
from urban centres
Land use conversion are facilitated by national (e.g.
industrialization) & local (e.g. exclusion of rural dimensions in
metropolitan or urban plans) policies
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

12. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Natural resources:
Peri-urban poor tend to depend more on access to natural
resources than those who are more urban-based and those with
higher incomes
They therefore suffer more from degradation or loss or resources
Peri-urban environmental services (forests, lakes) provide
recreation to urban & peri-urban poor; when degraded, higher
income households can afford to travel further afield to enjoy
these
Use of natural resources by peri-urban poor varies from one
region to another in the world: fuel (wood) in Asia and Africa;
forest resources in SE Asia; construction materials in Latin
America
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

13. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Changes in farming practices:
With urban expansion, peri-urban farming land that is not lost to
traditional urban uses can lose farming potential through
pesticides & water over-extraction and extensive irrigation (eg.
Flowers & horticulture)
Capital-intensive practices can displace the peri-urban poor who
lack capital for these activities (e.g. Asunción, Paraguay)
Intensive farming carry higher health risks (pesticides)
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

14. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Livelihood diversification:
As rural-urban linkages intensify through the flow of people, capital,
goods, information, their relevance for livelihoods increases
Temporary or permanent migration of household members (usually
gender-differentiated) of rural households is an old mechanism to
increase the household income and reduce vulnerability: multi-spatial
households and enterprises
At times of economic crisis (e.g. high unemployment among men due to
restructuring through SAP), proximity to urban markets can benefit
some more than others (e.g. rural women in Mali)
An efficient transport infrastructure allows the daily commuting to urban
centres to look for work
Some proximity but a relative isolation can open new opportunities
especially if there are high concentrations of labour (e.g. Tuy Valley,
Caracas)
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

15. The diversity of non-urban livelihoods:
Primary occupation of rural non-agricultural working
population in Northeast Brazil (%), 1996
Primary Extensao Povoado/2 Núcleo/3 Exclusive/4
occupation urbana/1
Mining 1.2 3.1 n.d. 2.3
Manufacturing 16.9 24.2 n.d. 34.2
Sales 21.7 20.3 n.d. 14.2
Services 60.2 52.4 n.d. 49.3
Total working 317.289 1.083.146 23.796 6.504.428
population
Note: 21.8 % of rural workers in the Northeast region are engaged in non-agricultural primary occupations
Key (based on IBGE classification):
1. Urbanised areas within 1 km of the urban perimeter but not formally incorporated into it
2. Agglomerations in rural areas with some permanent structures
3. Isolated rural agglomeration with between 10 and 51 households, usually attached to some commercial activity
4. Areas which do not meet any of the criteria definingJ.Dávila, DPU, UCL
an agglomeration
Source: Ferreira & Lanjouw (2001)

16. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Access to services and urban waste:
Urban expansion & infrastructure improvements can facilitate
access to basic services for rural and peri-urban groups (health,
education)
Child mortality & morbidity tend to be lower in urban & peri-urban
areas, partly due to better access to services, and partly
because urban food tends to be more diverse and rich in energy
and micro-nutrients
For many peri-urban poor, access to solid and liquid waste is an
important source of income and fertilisers
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

17. Rural-urban and peri-urban processes of change
Access to information and power:
Access to political power and information on prices, legal rights,
livelihood opportunities and so on, tend to be better represented
in urban than in rural or peri-urban areas
The intensity in flows of people, goods and information
contributes to increase knowledge horizons to isolated
populations, thus improving chances of increasing incomes and
livelihood options
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

18. Much of DPU’s peri-urban interface work
is downloadable: www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/pui
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL

19. Additional bibliography
Brook, R, Purushothaman, S and Hunshal, C, 2001, Changing frontiers. The Peri-urban interface, Hubli-
Dharwad, India, Books for Change, Bangalore, India.
Budds, J and Minaya, A, 1999, “Overview of initiatives regarding the management of the peri-Urban
interface”, Development Planning Unit, UCL.
Ferreira, F and Lanjouw, P, 2001, “Rural Nonfarm Activities and Poverty in the Brazilian Northeast”, World
Development, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 509-528.
Tacoli, C, 1999, “Understanding the opportunities and constraints for low-income groups in the peri-urban
interface: the contribution of livelihood frameworks”, Development Planning Unit, UCL.
Wiggins, S and Holt, G, 2000, “Literature review: Poverty, urban poverty and forest and tree goods and
services”, Report to Forestry Research Programme: Researchable constraints to the use of forest and tree
resources by poor urban and peri-urban households in developing countries, University of Reading.
J.Dávila, DPU, UCL