Hutchings, P orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-4644, Willcock, S, Lynch, K et al. (11 more authors) (2022) Understanding rural–urban transitions in the Global South through peri-urban turbulence. Nature Sustainability, 5. pp. 924-930. ISSN 2398-9629
Abstract
Much previous research has problematized the use of a binary urban–rural distinction to describe human settlement patterns in and around cities. Peri-urban zones, on the edge of urban settlements, are important both in the sheer magnitude of human population and in terms of being home to vulnerable populations with high rates of poverty. This Perspective presents a framework that conceptualizes rural–urban transition through the prism of shifts in natural, engineered and institutional infrastructure to explain the processes of rapid change and the dip in service provision often found in peri-urban areas in the Global South. We draw on examples related to the provision of water and sanitation to illustrate the theory and discuss its implications for future research on the peri-urban. A research agenda is set out that emphasizes the importance of studying early warning signs of service dips using systems theory concepts such as flickering and critical slowing down. Through such approaches, research can better predict and explain what we call peri-urban turbulence and inform the development of mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerabilities that peri-urban residents too often face during periods of rural–urban transition.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Springer Nature Limited 2022. This is an author produced version of an article published in Nature Sustainability. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2022 13:27 |
Last Modified: | 04 Feb 2023 01:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41893-022-00920-w |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:190044 |