Introduction: The Peri-Urban Zone: The Structure and Dynamics of a Strategic Component of Metropolitan regions/Introduction: La Zone Periurbaine: Structure et Dynamiques D'une Composante Strategique Des Regions Metropolitaines

Introduction * The rural-urban fringe, increasingly replaced in the research terminology by peri-urban fringes, zones or areas, has been a major arena for geographic research, and to a lesser extent, research in the planning field, for over 50 years. From the 1970s in particular, considerable research was undertaken on this zone, focusing on the patterns of change in the context of the then dominant conceptual framework, that of the central city and built-up area, the rural-urban fringe, the outer fringe and the urban shadow. Such research became very popular in Canada, for instance, during and after the 1970s when it was recognized that this zone was a central part of the structure and functioning of urban and metropolitan regional systems. These zones represented and still represent important extensions of the living space of major urban and metropolitan systems--as living environments, as environments in which employment opportunities were developed and resources exploited (e.g. agricultural resources), as environments in which important recreational and leisure activities could be pursued and provided for, and as environments destined to receive many important infrastructural developments (e.g. transportation infrastructure). The regional metropolitan system comprises: the urban area (central parts plus the suburbs); the peri-urban zone, with its mixture of settlements, countryside and natural spaces; and the rural hinterland. In one form or another, this simple zone-like structure has been used to describe the structure of regional urban and metropolitan systems for over 50 years. Increasingly, however, while the zone-like structure is still used as a point of departure and still represents a way of conceptualizing the results of the operation of meso scale urbanization forces on land use activities and development generally around major cities, the last 15 years have seen more and more attention paid to other aspects of the patterns and dynamics around cities, including radial patterns and, more generally, the development of a mosaic of structures and dynamics. Whatever the specific spatial form of the regional metropolitan system, all of the geographic spaces within it are tied together into a functioning social and economic system. Sometimes, these regional metropolitan systems are recognized through some form of administrative structure and the geographic limits of the regional administrative structure defines the arena of more or less concerted public intervention in terms of the planning and management of change. Frequently, however, the real social and functioning regional metropolitan system extends beyond these geographic limits, creating various tensions and stresses. The French Ile-de-France region based on Paris provides an excellent example of this, as do the structures that are based on Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada. Structures and Dynamics Beyond the Suburbs: The Special Issue The focus in this special issue of the Canadian Journal of Regional Science is on the peri-urban spaces of several Canadian and French metropolitan areas, as well as drawing upon research from the Paris team on the Tokyo area. The articles thus deal with various aspects of the structure and dynamics of those parts of the regional metropolitan system beyond the central agglomeration (the urban area proper). However, as is clear in several of the papers, and as we emphasize, it is imperative that the overall regional structure and system perspective be maintained, both in terms of the interrelationships between the dynamics of the different areas (e.g. the property market in the peri-urban fringe is linked to processes affecting the property market in the central agglomeration) and in terms of governance and planning of the different component geographic parts. The intent is not to cover all of the different types of research that are being conducted on the peri-urban zone, but to illustrate the structures and dynamics in this zone that are the subject of research in the two sponsoring research units, to which has been added analyses from colleagues in other universities in the two countries, Canada and France. …

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