Agriculture as an agent in building local identities : an alternative approach to urbanization of rural areas as exemplified in the Alpine corridor

Abstract

Abstract : At a time when the rural world is undergoing considerable peri-urbanisation, it is tempting to consider the changes affecting peri-urban areas as simply part of the process of urban expansion. Based on an analysis of the place and functions of agriculture in the planning and development projects of the alpine corridor in the French northern alps, this article proposes an alternative way of looking at the question. We use examples to demonstrate that the renewal of agricultural functions can only be properly understood if we take into account a combination of processes associating the control of spreading urbanization, where agriculture is given the role of containing and qualifying the town, and local development dynamics, in which agricultural and non-agricultural actors attempt to direct agriculture in relation to different expectations : economic development, environmental and landscape management, identity and cultural aspects, and so on. Rural and peri-urban areas are not simply a periphery that is determined and structured by the town. To understand how these areas are evolving, it is important to examine the innovative capacity and proactive role of the actors involved.