Urban expansion at the rural-urban fringe is driving loss of productive agricultural land, biodiversity and ecosystem services. This phenomenon is underpinned by Western society’s evolving conceptual and spatial distinctions between food production, nature, and the city.
With particular relevance for the Anglosphere, this narrative review explores how these competing interests can be negotiated spatially. First, we give an overview of urban utopian approaches; second, a comparison between high-intensity, sparing approaches and their low-intensity, sharing counterparts; and finally, an exploration of spatial considerations for mixed intensities of urban, food production and ecological land uses.
The review highlights the role of multifunctional green infrastructure to integrate both food production and ecological function across the urban-rural continuum at a range of scales. We emphasise the need for context-specific research to draw together multiple perspectives across different knowledges, disciplines, and experiences to better understand competing interests at the rural-urban fringe.
10.1080/01426397.2025.2552995
