Glossary

Details of urban fringe terminology with accompanying descriptions.

City Region

The area around a city which serves and is served by the city (not just the administrative area of a city/conurbation but also the urban and rural fringes/hinterland hence usually far larger). (source - Scott, A. (2001) Global City-Regions, Oxford University Press.)

Civil Society

The arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values.Activity involving the voluntary, civic and social organisations that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to state or market institutions. (LSE Centre for Civil Society)

Conurbation

An aggregation or continuous network of urban communities which have physically merged through population growth and expansion. It is a polycentric form of agglomeration (source - CEMAT (European Conference of Ministers responsible for spatial/regional planning) (2006) glossary of key expressions used in spatial development policies in Europe, Lisbon.)

Governance

The process whereby elements in society wield power and authority, and influence and enact policies and decisions concerning public life, and economic and social development.It is a broader notion than government involving interaction between formal institutions and those of civil society. (source - The Governance Working Group of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences 1996)

Green Infrastructure

A strategically planned and delivered network of high quality green spaces and other environmental features. It should be designed and managed as a multi-functional resource capable of delivering a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities.GI includes parks, open spaces, playing fields, woodlands, allotments and gardens. (source - Natural England)

Green Space

A plot of vegetated land separating or surrounding areas of intensive residential or industrial use and devoted primarily to recreational or park uses. (source -EEA Glossary of key terms)

Infrastructure

The basic network or foundationof capital facilities or community investments which are necessary to support economic and community activities. (source - EEA)

Land-Use Plans

Land-use planning creates policies at the local/municipal level that guide how the land (inside the administrative borders of a municipality) and its resources will be used. The main instrument of land-use planning is zoning or zoning ordinances, respectively. Land-use planning is situated below the regional planning level (source - ESPON Glossary of key terms)

Land-use planning is a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines seeking to order and regulate the use of land in an efficient ways. It means the scientific, aesthetic and orderly disposition of land, resources, facilities and services with a view to securing the physical, economic, social and environmental efficiency, health and well-being of urban and rural communities. (source - CEMAT Glossary)

Peri-Urban Areas

Areas that are in some form of transition from strictly rural to urban. These areas often form the immediate urban-rural interface and may eventually evolve into being fully urban. Peri-urban areas are places where people are key components: they are lived-in environments.The majority of peri-urban areas are on the fringe of established urban areas, but they may also be clusters of residential development within rural landscapes. Peri-urban areas are most frequently an output of the process of sub-urbanisation or urban sprawl. (source -CEMAT )

Rural-Urban Fringe

Transitional zones between distinctly urban and unambiguously rural areas. (source - Simon, D., 'Urban Environments; Issues on the peri-urban fringe', Annual Review ofEnvironment and Resources, Vol 33)

SME

Small or medium sized enterprises usually defined by workforce, turnover and independence.When defined by workforce, small businesses employ less than 50 and medium less than 250 employees. (source - Europa Glossary)

Spatial Planning

Spatial planning goes beyond traditional land use planning to bring together and integrate policies for the development and use of land with other amenities and infrastructure and includes the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces at various scales as well as the location of the various infrastructures, recreation and nature areas. Spatial planning activities are carried out at different administrative or governmental levels (local, regional, national), while activities of cooperation in this field are also implemented in cross-border, transnational and European contexts. (source – CEMAT)

"Regional/spatial planning gives geographical expression to the economic, social, cultural and ecological policies of society. It is at the same time a scientific discipline, an administrative technique and a policy developed as an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach directed towards a balanced regional development and the physical organisation of space according to an overall strategy." 'Torremolinos Charter', 1983 (source - CEMAT)

The systematic assessment of land and water potential, alternative patterns of land use and other physical, social and economic conditions for the purpose of selecting and adopting land-use options which are most beneficial to land users without degrading the resources or environment. (source - FAO/EEA)

Stakeholder

An institution, organization or group that has some interest in a particular sector or system. (source - EEA)

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)

Urban Fringe

An urban fringe is an area in between rural and urban with multifunctional spaces and complex structures.The urban fringe can sometimes be referred to as the 'outskirts' of a town or city or as an 'urban hinterland'.An urban fringe is predominantly open land on the edge of a settlement..

The zone of transition and interface between town and country where a broad variety of land uses and activities come together and where development pressure is often intense. (source -Gallent, N. et al., (2004) …)

[Some official definitions are more minimalist e.g. A residential district situated on the outskirts of a city or town. (15b)e.g. Predominantly open land on the edge of an existing urban area (definition (source - UK Planning Portal Glossary of planning terms)]

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled or unplanned extension of urban areas into the countryside. (Source EEA)

Other commonly used European terms with some equivalence to the urban fringe:

France

'campagne urbaine' (urban countryside)

ville emergeant'(emerging town)

Switzerland

'stadtland' (urbanscape) (Eisinger and Schneider (2003)

Germany

'zwischenstadt' (in-between-towns) (Sieverts 1997),

urban hinterland/ 'umland' (land around)

Belgium

urban-ländlichen Zonen (urbanely rural zones)

'banlieue' (urban fringe/suburbs)

The Netherlands

'halfstedig' (half/semiurban)

Scandinavia and the Netherlands

Green wedge

International

peri-urban fringe

rural-urban interface

rural-urban continuum