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Peri-urban areas are zones of transition from rural to urban land uses located between the outer limits of urban and regional centres and the rural environment. The boundaries of peri-urban areas are porous and transitory as urban development extends into rural and industrial land. Irrespective of how the boundaries move there will always be peri-urban zones.
There are growing concerns about water and food security to meet increases in population in urban areas. For cities to be liveable and sustainable into the future there is a need to maintain the natural resource base and the ecosystem services in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities. Development of peri-urban areas involves the conversion of rural lands to residential use, closer subdivision, fragmentation and a changing mix of urban and rural activities and functions. Changes within these areas can have significant impacts upon agricultural uses and productivity, environmental amenity and natural habitat, supply and quality of water and water and energy consumption.

These changes affect the peri-urban areas themselves and the associated urban and rural environments. In the past, cities and towns have been established in areas that had secure water and energy supplies and fertile lands for food production. The burgeoning population growth and expansion of urban centres worldwide has placed increasing pressure on potable water supplies, energy and food supplies and the ecosystems services on which the community and the liveability of the community depend.

---- UNESCO



  1. 2022-01-20 FAO, Rikolto and RUAF.2022.Urban and peri-urbanagriculture sourcebook– From production to food systems.Rome, FAO and Rikolto. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb9722en The purpose of this book is to set out the key lessons learned and to provide recommendations and guidance based on existing cases and...
  2. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA)can be defined as practices that yield food and other outputs through agricultural production and related processes (transformation, distribution, marketing, recycling…), taking place on land and other spaces within cities and surrounding regions. It involves...
  3. The RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems is a partnership of strategically selected expert institutions. The partnership brings together cities, research institutes and civil society organisations with a recognised track record in urban and peri-urban...
  4. 2015-01-20 As people increasingly migrate to urban settings and more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, it is vital to plan and provide for sustainable and resilient food systems which refl ect this challenge. This volume presents experience and evidence-based “state of the art”...
  5. Abstract, J Plan Lit, 2012 By uniting literature from farmland preservation, growth management, food systems, economics, bioengineering, and environmental studies, this article provides an overview and valuation of the services that farms provide for urban areas. This article first analyzes the...
  6. Abstract, Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2015 Climate change and urbanization can alter the burden of human diseases. The tropics, a region that includes the poorest populations and highest disease burdens, are expected to get slightly hotter and substantially more urban. Studies have projected...
  7. Abstract, Progress in Development Studies, 2002 This paper reviews the current state of literature on peri-urban research in sub-Saharan Africa. This research has been led by multi-lateral and bilateral development agencies that have sought to find a role in urban development. The review finds...
  8. Peri-urban areas have enormous potential to play a positive role in enhancing urban sustainability at the global level. This is because cities in all countries have to face the challenges posed by urban sprawl. The process of urbanization will continue to grow exponentially in the coming decades....
  9. Key Resource 2002-01-20 This Agrodok targets those who want to grow vegetables and other crops for their families or for the local market in urban and peri-urban areas. Factors that urban agriculturalists and gardeners need to take into consideration when selecting where to plant their crops and the best methods of...
  10. 2007-01-01 Urban agriculture is a dynamic concept that comprises a variety of livelihood systems ranging from subsistance production and processing at the household level to more commercial agriculture. This FAO document explores contriutions of UA and UPA (peri-urban) to soiclal, economic and ecological...
  11. 2010-09-21
  12. 2010-09-01 A case study on the introduction of the microgardening technology in The Gambia (West Africa)