This book demonstrates how agriculture can play a determining role in integrated, climate-optimised urban development. Agriculture within urban growth centres today is more than an economic or social left-over or a niche practice. It is instead a complex system that offers multiple potentials for interaction with the urban system. Urban open space and agriculture can be linked to a productive green infrastructure – this forms new urban-rural linkages in the urbanizing region and helps shape the city. But in order to do this, agriculture has to be seen as an integral part of the urban fabric and it has to be put on the local agenda. Urban Agriculture for Growing City Regions takes the example of Casablanca, one of the fastest growing cities in North Africa, to investigate this approach. The creation of synergies between the urban and rural in an emerging megacity is demonstrated through pilot projects, design solutions, and multifunctional modules. These synergies assure greater resource efficiency; particularly regarding the use and reuse of water, and they strengthen regional food security and the social integration of multiple spheres. A transdisciplinary research approach brings together different scientific disciplines and local actors into a process of integrated knowledge production. The book will have a long lasting legacy and is essential reading for researchers, planners, practitioners and policy makers who are working on urban development and urban agricultural strategies.

Growth Centres For Rural And Urban Development Is A New Approach Emphasizing The Integration Of Both Rural And Urban Development. Growth Centre Is A Powerful Tool For Planning Both Rural And Urban Development. It Is Also Recognized In Even Sectoral Planning In Industry, Education, Regional Planning Etc. The Strategy Of Growth Centres Is Explained In The First Five Chapters. Its Application In Preparation Of 20 Block Development Plans Is Detailed Out. It Pleads For Agropolitan Development In Contrast To The Metropolitan Approach, For Balanced Development Of The Regions. The Remaining Four Chapters Are Devoted Largely To Urban Development. The National Urbanization Policy For India Is Enunciated. They Advance The Thesis That Urban Development And Rural Development Are Both Interdependent And Should Not Be Viewed As Departments Separately. Small And Medium Towns Should Be Developed To Contain Mad Rush To The Metropolises And In Turn Strengthen The Rural Hinterland. This Could Be Done By Identify In Appropriate Growth Centres To Endow Them With The Necessary Infrastructure For Development. There Is Considerable Population Sustaining On What Is Known As Urban Informal Sector . The Control Of Urban Land Use Is Equally Necessary For An Orderly Development Of Cities And Growth Of Activities. The Book Will Be A Useful Reference To Students In Economics, Sociology, Geography, School Of Planning, Centres For Environmental Studies And Above All, In Public Administration.

This book provides a unique synthesis of concepts and tools to examine natural resource, socio-economic, legal, policy and institutional issues that are important for managing urban growth into the future. The book will particularly help the reader to understand the current issues and challenges and develop strategies and practices to cope with future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land, water and energy use challenges. In particular, the book will help the reader to discover underlying principles for the planning of future cities and peri-urban regions in relation to: (i) Balanced urban development policies and institutions for future cities; (ii) Understanding the effects of land use change, population increase, and water demand on the liveability of cities; (iii) Long-term planning needs and transdisciplinary approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and (iv) Strategies to adapt the cities and land, water and energy uses for viable and liveable cities. There are growing concerns about water, food security and sustainability with increased urbanisation worldwide. For cities to be liveable and sustainable into the future there is a need to maintain the natural resource base and the ecosystem services in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities. This need is increasing under the looming spectre of global warming and climate change. This book will be of interest to policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning, environmental and water resources management, and managers in municipal councils.

Addressing rural development is key for Ethiopia's growth process. A series of government-led structural reforms have contributed to sustained growth in the country over the last two decades as well as to considerable poverty reduction in rural areas. However, Ethiopia faces critical challenges it will need to overcome to meet the needs of a growing rural population. In practice, this will require updating the existing rural development strategy in order to better integrate the interaction of rural and urban areas. Policy approaches that account for the fast urbanisation process experienced in the country will therefore be key to improving the well-being of rural populations and promoting national growth. This report takes a spatial approach to study Ethiopia's rural development strategies. It highlights the need to develop stronger and more functional linkages between rural and urban areas. As such, the development of intermediary cities and small urban centres provides large scope for inclusive rural transformation. The report is the result of rigorous analysis, and extensive consultations with national and international stakeholders. It identifies some of the key challenges faced by rural areas and provides a series of recommendations to enhance Ethiopia's rural development strategies.

Three billion people live in rural areas in developing countries. Conditions for them are worse than for their urban counterparts when measured by almost any development indicator, from extreme poverty, to child mortality and access to electricity and sanitation.

Housing is crucial to the quality of life and wellbeing for individuals and familes, but the availability of adequate or affordable housing also plays a vital role in community economic development. Rural areas face a substantial disadvantage compared to urban areas in regard to housing, and this book explores these issues. Rural Housing and Economic Development includes chapters from nationally known experts from throughout the U.S. to provide insight to help understand and address the difficult housing concerns within rural areas. The chapters cover a variety of issues including housing for rural minorities, the extent of and problems associated with mobile home dwelling, the extent to which affordable rental housing is available in rural areas, the rapidly growing elderly population, and the housing consequences of rapid population and economic growth associated with energy development. The authors not only describe various housing problems, but also suggest policy approaches to more effectively address them. This book will be a vital resource to policy makers at the local, state or national level as they grapple with difficult rural housing problems. Researchers and professionals dealing with housing issues will also benefit from the insights of these experts while the book will also be appropriate for upper level undergraduates or graduate students in courses on housing or economic development.

With accelerating urbanization and growing inter-dependence of rural and urban dwellers on the markets and resources they each offer, rural urban linkages have become a very important focus in recent years for research and policy relating to local and national economic development, poverty reduction and governance. The emergence of new livelihoods based on diversified income sources and mobility reflects profound social, cultural and economic transformations, and new forms of resource allocation and use. This volume collects the key contributions in the field, covering the conceptual background, the key issues and the current debates, locating different approaches in their wider intellectual and historical contexts. It also includes important recent empirical work from all the relevant geographical regions that that will be the basis for future thinking. Fifteen papers are clearly organized around the principal themes and accompanied by a valuable editorial introduction clearly setting out the issues, the arguments and the evidence. Suggestions for further reading and additional information sources are also included. Published with IIED.

Cities are not only home to around half of the global population but also major centers of economic activity and innovation. Yet, so far there has been no consensus of what a city really is. Substantial differences in the way cities, metropolitan, urban, and rural areas are defined across countries hinder robust international comparisons and an accurate monitoring of SDGs. The report Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation addresses this void and provides new insights on urbanisation by applying for the first time two new definitions of human settlements to the entire globe: the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area.

Growth Centres in Spatial Planning examines the role of growth centers in spatial planning in terms of achieving the intended objectives. Intended objectives include improving a region's potential for adopting innovations, a saving in public investment on infrastructure, a more efficient pattern of service provision, a dissemination of growth impulses throughout the problem region, and the interception of would-be migrants from the region. More specifically, this book analyzes the extent to which growth-center policies are likely to attain these objectives and how such policies might be modified accordingly. This text consists of eight chapters and begins with an appraisal of growth-center theory and growth-center policy, along with the fundamental issues that are involved in putting such policies into practice. This is followed by a discussion on regional policies with a clear growth-center element in Scotland, Ireland, and France. The reader is then introduced to the link between urban centers and the diffusion of innovations; the degree to which the spatial concentration of investment is desirable in order to achieve the most economic pattern of service provision; and the role of spatial agglomeration in stimulating economic growth. The spatial impact of growth centers and the role of growth centers in generating, intercepting, and attracting migrants are also considered. This text concludes with a chapter that proposes some policy guidelines and directions for research. This book will be of interest to planners and policymakers involved in urban planning and regional development more generally.