Abstract
Urban-rural distinctions are particularly challenging in the context of fast growing cities in the developing world. Through an example of the Indian city of Bangalore, we demonstrate the case for development of more continuous approaches of urban representation that are needed in many parts of the world. Thus even some of the oldest areas in Bangalore, which have been part of an urban center for centuries, exhibit aspects of rurality, as much as other recently developing peri-urban parts of the city. We demonstrate the considerable heterogeneities in urbanity and rurality that exist in Bangalore, which constitutes complex mosaics of rural and urban systems. In contexts such as these, binary representations of the urban rural dichotomy break down, as does the gradient approach to urbanity. There does not appear to be any obvious relationship between the time span for which a site has been urbanized, and the degree to which rurality still maintains its influence on these fluid urban landscapes. New theories and methods are needed to fully represent the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of rurality and urbanity in these fluid landscapes, moving beyond traditional, discretized urban vs. rural classifications, as well as relatively simplistic gradient-based urban to rural analyses.
Highlights
The continents of Asia and Africa are undergoing an urban transformation [1], moving from a predominantly rural demographic, towards one that will be dominated by cities by 2030
For instance, urban expansion in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America often follows a characteristic pattern wherein the city engulfs indigenous, formerly rural villages. These villages continue to exist within the city, where it is common to find complex mosaics of high rise apartments with software engineers next to rural huts with livestock [5,6]
Rurality has been observed in cities as diverse as Kampala [11], Mexico City [12], and in the Philippines [14]
Summary
The continents of Asia and Africa are undergoing an urban transformation [1], moving from a predominantly rural demographic, towards one that will be dominated by cities by 2030. There are often substantial differences between areas that are administratively defined as urban, with formal urban governance structures, and areas of actual urban cover, dominated by built environments [5] This is especially obvious in peri-urban areas [6], but confined to these areas. For instance, urban expansion in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America often follows a characteristic pattern wherein the city engulfs indigenous, formerly rural villages. These villages continue to exist within the city, where it is common to find complex mosaics of high rise apartments with software engineers next to rural huts with livestock [5,6]. The dichotomous approach of the urban vs. rural classification breaks down in such contexts
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