Rural-urban Interface Research Articles

Borrowings and Utilization of Agriculture Credit vis-a-vis Urbanization: A Case of Rural-Urban Interface in North of Bengaluru

The study was undertaken in North of Bengaluru to assess the quantum of credit borrowed, sources of credit and its utilization pattern by farm households across rural urban interface. The required primary data was collected from randomly selected 50 farmers each under rural, peri-urban and urban transacts. The results revealed that the farmers availed more credit from formal sources compared to informal sources across all transacts. Commercial banks occupied the prominent position in all the three transacts with a share of 52.25, 53.15 and 42.17 per cent in rural, peri-urban and urban areas, respectively followed by cooperatives among the formal sources. In case of informal sources, the amount borrowed was high in rural area (40.06 %) followed by peri-urban (24.13 %) and urban area (15.89 %). Furthermore, the amount borrowed among informal sources was more from the money lenders and commission agents. When crop loans are concerned, the peri urban farmers are more productive in proper utilization of the loans followed by urban and rural farmers. Credit borrowed in rural areas was primarily utilized on livestock (32 %), education (32 %) and bore well digging (22 %). Whereas, majority of farmers in peri-urban area and urban areas utilized credit for high value horticulture crops and livestock rearing. In case of high value crops, for digging of bore well and livestock rearing, the utilization percentage was cent per cent or even more in all the areas. It was because these crops will help in getting assured returns which is sufficient enough to meet their household expenditure when compared with the normal crop enterprises.

Diets, Food Choices and Environmental Impacts across an Urban-Rural Interface in Northern Vietnam

Human diets and their associated environmental impacts differ across segments of the population. There is evidence that consumer choices of food intake can also affect the overall environmental impacts of a food system. This paper analyzes the environmental impact of diets and food choices across a rural–urban transect in Northern Vietnam by using mixed survey data from 619 adult respondents. The average greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) resulting from producing the daily food intake of adults in the urban and peri-urban districts were similar, while the average in the rural district was lower. Although starchy staples contributed the most to energy intake, pork and beef were the largest contributors to GHGE. Metrics of blue water use were higher for diets of males than those of females in all three districts. Interestingly, the difference in mean diet diversity score between urban and rural households was significant, and females’ diets were more diverse than those of males. As expected, urban households were more likely to buy food, while rural households often produced their own foods. Urban households reported prioritizing personal health and the natural content of food and would increase seafood and fruits if their income were to increase. In rural regions, interventions aimed at reducing undernutrition should address improving diet quality without significant increases to diet-related environmental impacts.

Studies on soil physico-chemical and biological properties and evaluation of nutrient index for soil fertility along rural-urban interface of southern transect of Bengaluru

The expansion of urbanization and industrialization has an adverse effect on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils with this our objective was to study the soil quality and evaluation of nutrient index for soil properties along rural-urban interface of southern transect of Bengaluru. The results of the analysis of variance with unequal number of observations showed that rural soils were recorded significantly higher mean values of SOC (0.70%), N (323.01 kg ha-1), P2O5 (28.98 kg ha-1), K2O (246.16 kg ha-1), S (19.32 kg ha-1), Zn (0.73 ppm), B (0.84 ppm) and DHA activity (14.59 µg TPF g-1 soil 24 h-1) whereas, urban soils were characterized by higher mean values of soil pH (7.93), EC (1.33 dS m-1), exchangeable Ca (12.03 c mol (p+) kg-1) and Mg (7.70 c mol (p+) kg-1) and heavy metals such as Cd (0.088 ppm), Cr (0.086 ppm), Pb (0.065 ppm) and Ni (0.056 ppm).The results of nutrient index revealed that available nitrogen (1.61 and 1.42) and zinc (1.65 and 1.57) were belongs to low category of nutrient index in rural and peri-urban, respectively. Urban soils were characterized by low nutrient index category w.r.t. SOC (1.44), available N (1.25), P2O5 (1.52), K2O (1.50), S (1.56), Fe (1.50), Mn (1.40), Zn (1.25) and B (1.42). Conclusively, rural soils were recorded higher available nutrients and microbial activity, followed by peri-urban and lowest were recorded in urban soils, this clearly suggests that the process of urbanization has adversely affected the soil quality along rural-urban interface.

Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Field Margin Vegetation in Sustainable Development: A Study in a Rural-Urban Interface

Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Field Margin Vegetation in Sustainable Development: A Study in a Rural-Urban Interface

The Nexus of Land use Changes and Livelihood Transformation of Farmers at Rural-Urban Interface of Pakistan

The Nexus of Land use Changes and Livelihood Transformation of Farmers at Rural-Urban Interface of Pakistan

Urbanization and its Impact on Production Diversity and Income of Farm Households: An Economic Analysis Across Rural-Urban Interface of Bengaluru

The study was conducted in North of Bengaluru with an aim to analyze effect of urbanization on production diversity, farm income and factors influencing the same across the rural-urban interface. The required data was collected randomly from 80 farmers each under rural, transition and urban gradients. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the drivers of farm income. Herfindahl index was employed to capture the extent of production diversification. Results revealed that the rural farmers diversified from food crops to vegetable and flower crops over the years. Whereas, farmers of transition and urban gradients chose to grow high value horticulture crops instead of food crops. During 2019, the extent of diversification was more in transition (0.21) and rural (0.25) gradients compared to urban (0.29) gradient. In rural gradients, the major share of farm income was from cereals (31.79 %) followed by vegetables (28.65 %) and perennials (17.88 %) in 2014 but the major share was replaced by vegetables (28.69 %) and flower crops (19.98) in 2019. In transition and urban gradients, the major source of farm income was from vegetables in 2014 which was later substituted by fruit crops in 2019. Over the period of five years, the percentage increase in average farm income of households was highest in urban gradient (143.07 %) followed by rural (140.15 %) and transition (110.50 %) gradients. Land holding size, education, borrowed capital and investment in farming emerged as the principal determinants of farm income. As a whole, the study concludes that, urbanization led investment on high value crops through crop diversification which played a significant role in augmenting the farm income.

The rural–urban interface: Rural and small town growth at the metropolitan fringe

AbstractUrbanisation and the expansion of US metropolitan regions have blurred the spatial and social boundaries that are typically thought to separate urban from rural America. Our objective is to highlight both the conceptual limitations of the so‐called rural–urban divide, while also recognising the spatial interdependence of America's ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ people and places. Our analyses nest rural and urban population and places within metropolitan and non‐metropolitan counties, while acknowledging that rural places often grow into urban places (i.e., urbanisation) and that many non‐metropolitan counties are reclassified over time as metropolitan areas (i.e., metropolitanisation). Analyses show that most rural people—as officially defined—now live in metropolitan counties, often at the fringe. Reclassification to metropolitan areas was a major reason why. Small towns and thinly settled areas at the metropolitan fringe have grown rapidly since 1980 and have become increasingly integrated within metropolitan areas nationally. The heuristic value of our analytical approach at the national level is further demonstrated at the local‐area level, in Chicago and Atlanta, metro areas with very different demographic and economic histories. Our study highlights the dynamic and multidimensional nature of spatial boundaries (i.e., urban–rural and metro–nonmetro) that both separate and connect rural and urban areas in the United States. Metro–nonmetro and rural–urban boundaries are neither fixed nor impermeable.

Formal and Informal Governance Arrangements to Boost Sustainable and Inclusive Rural-Urban Synergies: An Analysis of the Metropolitan Area of Styria

In the past, the contrasts between rural and urban regions were the primary feature of analysis, while today, spatial dynamics are realized by the interactions between spaces and focus on the dependencies of rural-urban areas. This implies that boundaries are not anymore perceived as fixed but as flexible and fluid. With rising spatial interrelations, the concept of the “city-region” has been increasingly regarded as a meaningful concept for the implementation of development policies. Governance arrangements working at the rural-urban interface are often highly complex. They are characterized by horizontal and vertical coordination of numerous institutional public and private actors. In general, they provide opportunities to reap benefits and try to ameliorate negative outcomes but, due to asymmetric power relations, rural areas are often challenged to make their voice heard within city-region governance structures which can too easily become focused on the needs of the urban areas. This paper addresses these issues of rural-urban partnerships through the case of the Metropolitan Area of Styria. It presents analyses on the core issue of how to recognize the structure and driving challenges for regional co-operation and inter-communal collaboration in this city-region. Data were collected through workshops with regional stakeholders and interviews with mayors. Although the Metropolitan Area of Styria occupies an increased reference in policy discourses, the city-region has not grown to a uniform region and there are still major differences in terms of economic performance, the distribution of decision-making power, accessibility and development opportunities. If there should be established a stronger material and imagined cohesion in the city-region, it requires enhanced assistance for municipalities with less financial and personal resources, and tangible good practices of inter-municipal co-operation. The ability to act at a city-regional level depends highly on the commitment for co-operation in the formal and informal governance arrangement, and on the willingness for political compromises as well as on the formulation of common future goals.

Effect of Complex Road Networks on Intensive Land Use in China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration

Coupled with rapid urbanization and urban expansion, the spatial relationship between transportation development and land use has gained growing interest among researchers and policy makers. In this paper, a complex network model and land use intensity assessment were integrated into a spatial econometric model to explore the spatial spillover effect of the road network on intensive land use patterns in China’s Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration. First, population density, point of interest (POI) density, and aggregation index were selected to measure land use intensity from social, physical, and ecological aspects. Then, the indicator of average degree (i.e., connections between counties) was used to measure the characteristics of the road network. Under the hypothesis that the road network functions in shaping land use patterns, a spatial econometric model with the road network embedded spatial weight matrix was established. Our results revealed that, while the land use intensity in the BTH urban agglomeration increased from 2010 to 2015, the road network became increasingly complex with greater spatial heterogeneity. The spatial lag coefficients of land use intensity were positively significant in both years and showed a declining trend. The spatially lagged effects of sector structure, fixed asset investment, and consumption were also significant in most of our spatial econometric models, and their contributions to the total spillover effect increased from 2010 to 2015. This study contributes to the literature by providing an innovative quantitative method to analyze the spatial spillover effect of the road network on intensive land use. We suggest that the spatial spillover effect of the road network could be strengthened in the urban–rural interface areas by improving accessibility and promoting population, resource, and technology flows.

Food consumption pattern and Body Mass Index assessment along rural-urban interface of the South Indian mega city of Bangalore

Food consumption pattern are predictors of health and nutritional status. Bangalore is one of the rapidly urbanizing South Indian megacity with a population of 11 millions. Study highlights gradient changes with reference to food consumption pattern and Body Mass Index (BMI) among households in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore. A total of 300 middle income households were selected by purposive random sampling technique. Standardized schedule was used to collect information on food consumption pattern and BMI using standard protocols. Consumption of energy dense foods was significantly more than adequacy. Average dietary diversity score was less than 50 per cent which is indicative of routinely consumption of only few food groups among households. Fried (51.4%) and Readyto- eat (51.0%) foods consumption was more frequent in rural. Prevalence of overweight (24.5%) and obesity was more in urban (7.1%). Overall, incidences of overweight and obesity were more compared to underweight. This reveals, that there is a need for intervention and promotion of diversified and functional foods to address overweight and obesity, which are the root causes for non-communicable diseases in order to protect health and nutritional status of individuals along rural-urban interface of Bangalore.

An economic assessment of the food security of households in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore.

An economic assessment of the food security of households in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore.

Disconnected, Not Polarized: Four Decades of the Rural-urban Interface in Mainstream Country Music

Rural scholars have regularly analyzed media representations of rural communities, but there are a lack of analyses considering whether media representations of the rural-urban interface have transformed over the last 40 years as material connections and political divisions between rural and urban places intensified. This article presents a longitudinal analysis of portrayals of the rural-urban interface in mainstream country music from the 1980s to the 2010s. Examining the lyrics of over 800 weeks of songs that topped the Billboard charts, we find that representations of the material connections between rural and urban places have become less common. Specifically, portrayals of migrants crossing the interface have nearly disappeared from mainstream country. There was also a lack of evidence of growing polarization in mainstream country’s portrayals of rural and urban places. Rural places were generally depicted in idyllic terms in every decade, but urban places were also increasingly represented positively. These results indicate that the rural-urban interface portrayed by mainstream country does not align with previous research concerning the interface. In contrast to studies that highlight growing material connections and political divisions between rural and urban places, the interface depicted by mainstream country has become increasingly disconnected materially without becoming polarized politically.

Evoking the Industrial Past at the Urban-Rural Border Region: Social Movements and Cultural Production

An exploration of industrial ruin sites has received sufficient attention in the past. Framed under the hybrid perspective of non-representational theory and paralleled with Ingold’s taskscape conceptualized terms, this study examines the TSA (train service area), an opencast mining ruins site in Gongguan town of Maoming, southern China, as a case locus to depict the ‘lives lived’ and the textures of the taskscape encountered by locales and to sketch out the iterative and eventful movements of human and non-human dynamic phenomena at the rural-urban interface from the 1960s to the 1980s, with the aim to re-examine the locality of one industrial city and regenerate the local culture. As actualized through ‘stories and dramatic episodes’, i.e., an art intervention of a new geographical historiography, the ‘thick’ landscape of mine transport comes to the stage as the self-landscape and of group-place scenes. In the first scene, the industrial past is evoked along the actor’s movement, through situated knowledge and through shared personhood; thus, the spirit of place is finally obtained through the aesthetic sublimation in the landscaping. In the second scene, the movement between the workplace and other rural areas, which are rural and seasonal, has balanced the gap between the urban and the rural, whilst the proximity of the village to the TSA accelerates the process of rural urbanization in this area. Among which, tea, as a non-human item, irreducibly produces a ‘structure of feeling’ and conjures up a sense of past people and past times and of customs, beliefs and localism.

Neighbor danger: Yellow fever virus epizootics in urban and urban-rural transition areas of Minas Gerais state, during 2017-2018 yellow fever outbreaks in Brazil

BackgroundFrom the end of 2016 until the beginning of 2019, Brazil faced a massive sylvatic yellow fever (YF) outbreak. The 2016–2019 YF epidemics affected densely populated areas, especially the Southeast region, causing thousands of deaths of humans and non-human primates (NHP).Methodology/Principal findingsWe conducted a molecular investigation of yellow fever virus (YFV) RNA in 781 NHP carcasses collected in the urban, urban-rural interface, and rural areas of Minas Gerais state, from January 2017 to December 2018. Samples were analyzed according to the period of sampling, NHP genera, sampling areas, and sampling areas/NHP genera to compare the proportions of YFV-positive carcasses and the estimated YFV genomic loads. YFV infection was confirmed in 38.1% of NHP carcasses (including specimens of the genera Alouatta, Callicebus, Callithrix, and Sapajus), from the urban, urban-rural interface, and rural areas. YFV RNA detection was positively associated with epidemic periods (especially from December to March) and the rural environment. Higher median viral genomic loads (one million times) were estimated in carcasses collected in rural areas compared to urban ones.Conclusions/SignificanceThe results showed the wide occurrence of YF in Minas Gerais in epidemic and non-epidemic periods. According to the sylvatic pattern of YF, a gradient of viral dissemination from rural towards urban areas was observed. A high YF positivity was observed for NHP carcasses collected in urban areas with a widespread occurrence in 67 municipalities of Minas Gerais, including large urban centers. Although there was no documented case of urban/Aedes YFV transmission to humans in Brazil during the 2016–2019 outbreaks, YFV-infected NHP in urban areas with high infestation by Aedes aegypti poses risks for YFV urban/Aedes transmission and urbanization.

Spatial and temporal patterns of Ross River virus in south east Queensland, Australia: identification of hot spots at the rural-urban interface

BackgroundRoss River virus (RRV) is responsible for the most common vector-borne disease of humans reported in Australia. The virus circulates in enzootic cycles between multiple species of mosquitoes, wildlife reservoir hosts and humans. Public health concern about RRV is increasing due to rising incidence rates in Australian urban centres, along with increased circulation in Pacific Island countries. Australia experienced its largest recorded outbreak of 9544 cases in 2015, with the majority reported from south east Queensland (SEQ). This study examined potential links between disease patterns and transmission pathways of RRV.MethodsThe spatial and temporal distribution of notified RRV cases, and associated epidemiological features in SEQ, were analysed for the period 2001–2016. This included fine-scale analysis of disease patterns across the suburbs of the capital city of Brisbane, and those of 8 adjacent Local Government Areas, and host spot analyses to identify locations with significantly high incidence.ResultsThe mean annual incidence rate for the region was 41/100,000 with a consistent seasonal peak in cases between February and May. The highest RRV incidence was in adults aged from 30 to 64 years (mean incidence rate: 59/100,000), and females had higher incidence rates than males (mean incidence rates: 44/100,000 and 34/100,000, respectively). Spatial patterns of disease were heterogeneous between years, and there was a wide distribution of disease across both urban and rural areas of SEQ. Overall, the highest incidence rates were reported from predominantly rural suburbs to the north of Brisbane City, with significant hot spots located in peri-urban suburbs where residential, agricultural and conserved natural land use types intersect.ConclusionsAlthough RRV is endemic across all of SEQ, transmission is most concentrated in areas where urban and peri-urban environments intersect. The drivers of RRV transmission across rural-urban landscapes should be prioritised for further investigation, including identification of specific vectors and hosts that mediate human spillover.

Disentangling the contributions of urban and production sources in short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffin concentrations in a complex source region

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) were measured in tree bark samples. These samples were collected around a chemical industrial park containing several chlorinated paraffin (CP) production plants, in a nearby city (Zhengzhou), and along a transect between the industrial park and city. Theoretical air concentrations were back-calculated from concentrations in bark using a predictive equation for estimating equilibrium bark-air partition coefficients. We developed this equation from a series of previously published Kbark-air measurements. Comparison of the normalized concentration profiles along south to north transects showed that wind played only a minor role in CP concentrations and profiles in the region. Three distinct source profiles were found in the complex source region. A fingerprint analysis technique was used to quantify the contribution of each source to the CP burden at various locations along the transect. We found that CP profiles at sites up to 6 km from the industrial park were strongly influenced by CP plant emissions, whereas the sites located in the rural zone and rural-urban interface were influenced by a mixture of CP plant emissions and the neighboring city.

Beyond the City: Exploring the Suburban and Rural Landscapes of Racial Residential Integration across the United States.

In recent decades, racial and ethnic diversity has expanded from the city into the suburbs, the rural-urban interface, and remote rural places across all regions in the United States. This study examines how these population trends shape the possibility of racial residential integration across the American rural-urban continuum and regions. Using the information theory index (H) and racial and ethnic composition thresholds, we identify integrated cities, suburbs, and rural towns and villages that are stably integrated between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. This study shows a substantial number of diverse places where people of different races and ethnicities live near each other. Further, the largest clusters of integration locate in suburbs, followed by rural places, while central cities show the lowest rates of integration. In addition, the West typically hosts larger numbers of integrated communities compared to other regions. Findings suggest that to better understand shifting patterns of American racial inequality, research must look outside the city and toward the West to investigate residential integration as a new form of 21st-century race relations.

Somewhere in between Towns, Markets and Jobs – Agricultural Intensification in the Rural–Urban Interface

We propose a flexible conceptual and methodological framework to model the dynamics of agricultural intensification in the rural–urban interfaces of large cities. We focus particularly on the effects of polycentric urbanisation patterns and trade-offs between agricultural intensification and off-farm employment. In our conceptual framework – modelling household decision-making based on utility maximisation – we show that agricultural intensification in the rural–urban interface is likely to exhibit non-linear and complex spatial patterns due to location-dependent variation in output prices and wage rates. This is confirmed by our empirical analysis of a primary data set of 638 smallholder farms in the rural–urban interface of Bangalore. Applying Structured Additive Regression (STAR) techniques, we model two-dimensional urbanisation effects using household and village coordinates. Results imply that proximity to secondary towns and road infrastructure is the primary channel of urbanisation effects on the uptake of modern agricultural inputs. Furthermore, proximity to the large urban centre of Bangalore appears to increase the opportunity costs of agricultural intensification through improved access to off-farm labour opportunities. Overall, we show that patterns of agricultural intensification around urban centres are not necessarily radially symmetric.

Thermal Signatures of Peri-Urban Landscapes

AbstractA new thermal metric is examined that is based on the ratio of day-to-day warm and cold surface temperature transitions. Urban and rural sites in Canada are examined using this new metric for the minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and mean temperature of the day. A distinctive signature emerges for “peri-urban” landscapes—landscapes at the urban–rural interface—and thus may provide a useful and relatively easy way to detect such environments using the current and historical climate records. A climatological basis for the presence of these distinct thermal signatures in peri-urban landscapes is proposed.

The Native in Comparative Literature

Abstract This article tracks the ethical ambivalence of the native. First, there is a nativism drawn out with reference to Melissa Kennedy and Gary Okihiro that reframes the native in a poetic impulse, asks for a redistributive epistemological change in knower and known, and can rescue nativism into an acknowledgement of complicity. Second, there are acknowledgments of complicity that can pluck nativism away from the divisive compartmentalization that it seems to foster, as can be seen in the work of Soumaya Mestiri. The article ends with remarks from Buci Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood to underscore a critique of nativism in the rural-urban interface in Nigeria that is globally instructive and to point out the fact that woman is never native.