Archaeology and Contemporary Dynamics for More Sustainable, Resilient Cities in the Peri-Urban Interface

Abstract

Understanding of urban fringes or peri-urban interfaces (PUIs) as zones characterised by rapid transitional change and sprawling urbanisation has increased markedly over recent years. Archaeological evidence also illustrates the pivotal role that peri-urban zones once played in the survivability of ancient urban centres. Over the last three decades, urban growth and associated transitional changes have accelerated in most regions, producing major challenges to the development of resilient cities capable of absorbing climatic, economic and environmental shocks. Globalised processes of industrialisation and market interdependence have remoulded urban fringes, bringing increased environmental impacts, including the loss of natural resources and environmental buffers now recognised as essential for urban resilience. Furthermore, ongoing global environmental change (GEC) and increasing socio-economic inequality are generating new priorities as peri-urban zones consolidate, erode and shift outwards. Given the inadequacies of existing frameworks, we advocate a hybrid approach to PUI planning and design that draws on integrated, agropolitan-type perspectives embedded within a resilient, locally appropriate regional-urban focus within broader socio-spatial and geo-economic systems. Diverse historical and contemporary examples inform the discussion of the PUI planning and design and the identifi cation of policy recommendations for a hybrid planning approach based on adaptive capacity and resilience.

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation

“…For instance, current evidence would suggest that a tendency towards sprawling was already present in early tropical urbanism 96 . This is mirrored to a significant degree in the modern world and is reflected in concerns about the sustainability of sprawling megacities resulting in continual degradation of environments at the ever-expanding urban fringe 97 . The decline of early, low-density megacities with dense urban cores and massive state-sponsored hydraulic infrastructure appears often to have been strongly correlated with climate change [98][99] .…”

“…For example, the extensive urban fringes around many ancient tropical forest urban centres are drawing interest within present day urban planning research (e.g. 97 ). The role of such peri-urban interfaces in local resilience, in addressing vulnerability of urban centres to climate change, and in supporting current livelihoods and food security are of increasing interest, with archaeological data from tropical regions providing useful case studies of long-term dynamics 97 .…”

“…97 ). The role of such peri-urban interfaces in local resilience, in addressing vulnerability of urban centres to climate change, and in supporting current livelihoods and food security are of increasing interest, with archaeological data from tropical regions providing useful case studies of long-term dynamics 97 . Also of interest have been tropical rainforest anthrosols such as the fertile terra preta soils of the pre-Columbian Amazon.…”

Rethinking sustainable cities: Accessible, green and fair

“…Many sophisticated and often large-scale preindustrial urban societies endured for many centuries precisely because they 'designed nature in' and lived in environmentally relatively sustainable ways. Indeed, it is increasingly being appreciated that contemporary urban sustainability challenges can learn much from how earlier urbanisms evolved, survived and eventually collapsed (for example, Douglas, 2013;Elmqvist et al, 2013a;Simon and Adam-Bradford, 2016). Nagendra (2016) provides a highly distinctive green biography of Bengaluru (Bangalore) in Karnataka, India, tracing the changing socio-cultural attitudes to and uses and abuses of nature in the city through its 2,500-year history.…”

Urban Agriculture: Where Urban Pressures Meet City Farmers

“…The field of urban agriculture is quickly becoming a widely adopted method of food production in the global marketplace [1]. The use of this practice promotes economic growth, creates reliable, local food sources, and creates stability in local regions that are not food secure.…”