Abstract
The two most significant signatures of the Anthropocene—agriculture and urbanisation—have yet to be studied synoptically. The term periurban is used to describe territory where the urbanising trend of the planet extends into multiscapes. A periurban praxis is required that spatially reconciles urbanisation and agriculture, simultaneously permitting urban growth and the enhancement of critical ecosystem services provided by agricultural hinterlands. This paper presents a synthesis of four fields of ecological research that converge on periurban multiscapes—ecological urbanism, landscape ecology, ecosystem services science and agroecology. By applying an ecosystem services approach, a diagram is developed that connects these fields as a holistic praxis for spatially optimising periurban multiscapes for ecosystem services performance. Two spatial qualities of agroecology—‘ES Density’ and ‘ES Plasticity’—potentiate recent areas of research in each of the other three fields—ecology for the city from ecological urbanism, landscape metrics from landscape ecology (particularly the potential application of fractals and surface metrics) and ecosystem services supply and demand mapping and ‘ES Space’ theory from ecosystems services science. While the multifunctional value of agroecological systems is becoming widely accepted, this paper focuses on agroecology’s specific spatial value and its unique capacity to supply ecosystem services specifically tailored to the critical ecosystemic demands of periurban multiscapes.
Highlights
The term ‘multiscape’ can be considered a portmanteau derived from ‘multifunctional’and ‘landscape’
As we propose in this paper, agroecology’s future periurban role is underpinned by two exclusive spatial properties that it exhibits in relation to ecosystem services
We suggest that agroecological systems can apply this ‘ES Plasticity’ to the critical periurban function of spatially matching the supply of ecosystem services to specific ecosystem services required by expanding human settlements
Summary
The term ‘multiscape’ can be considered a portmanteau derived from ‘multifunctional’. Throughout this review, a diagram is used to demonstrate the convergence of each field on the periurban zone and new interdisciplinary connections between ecological urbanism, landscape ecology, ecosystem services science and agroecology (Figure 1) What emerges from this diagram is a different way of considering farming, one that utilises agroecology’s spatial capability to operationalise urban and rural reconciliation, to couple the expansion of human settlements with the multifunctionality of rural landscapes. The diagram is developed its overall circular part suggesting that an interdisciplinary convergence of these four fields of research is required to develop a periurban praxis, a conceptual spatial model for the analysis and design intervention into the urbanising reality of multiscapes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
