The Value of Inclusion of the Peri-Urban Interface on Quality of Life for the Urban Population

Abstract

This paper examines peri-urban space existing separate from the urban fabric and often in between urban and rural landscapes. This is a largely neglected area and often considered by each side as belonging to the other. Contemporary studies identify two sides associated with the rural-urban fringe: the expanding built settlements and ebbing countryside, ignoring significance and the circumstance of the spaces. The peri-urban fringe is a planning opportunity, which provides services beyond simple human habitat or wasteland of undesirable function. Through this study I intend to present the peri-urban interface as an intricate element of the urban infrastructure.

This paper examines a series of case studies, which display peri-urban land-use planning and design through established areas, boundaries, and buffers spanning North America, Western Europe and Australia. Each area is examined to determine scope, program, and ecological and social impacts. The data informs positive and negative impacts within the peri-urban area.

The peri-urban fringe spaces take on many forms and functions. Successful sites enrich the associated urban communities, whereas unsuccessful sites, which often exist in conflict with abutting environments, reduce quality of life and essential ecological processes. The peri-urban interface varies with many scales and circumstances, which affect quality of life for the urban population.

Planning in the PUI is essential in promoting healthy populations and ecologies. Scale, program and accessibility determine how effectiveness of a peri-urban interface.

Through this study, I want to identify significant value of the peri-urban interface as an opportunity and asset for the urban landscape.