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http://www.bham.ac.uk/IDD/acad/cv/nunan.htm Research Where City Meets Country, is the Peri-Urban Interface a Concept that Counts? F Nunan and A W Shepherd Is there anything different about the management of natural resources in the peri-urban interface (the zone around major towns or cities where rural and urban economies interact) that warrants special treatment in terms of research and policy making? Researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Wales have been working with counterparts with India's University of Agricultural Sciences and Karnatak University, Dharwad, in the state of Karnataka, to examine the use and management of natural resources within the peri-urban interface of the twin city of Hubli-Dharwad. They assessed the practical worth of treating such zones as distinctive socio-economic environments fitting neither town nor country stereotypes. The research adopted a systems perspective, analysing the productivity of the periurban interface in terms of its dynamic and changing nature. This approach emphasises a move away from a simple geographic definition of the interface, to an understanding based on intensive linkages and flows of, for example, commodities, wastes and labour. The first phase of the research was completed in late 1997, its outcome a natural resources profile of the peri-urban intereface under study and a set of recommendations for longer-term research activities. The aim will be to provide policy recommendations that can be applied to similar situations around South Asia, regarding ways to increase productivity and sustainability in the peri-urban interface. On-going research is being guided by a participatory approach in a bid to find out more about community concerns as urban development impines on former rural ways. The research scrutinises three particular areas of interaction: environmental management, farming systems and the utilisation of urban wastes. One query the researchers will pursue is: how can urban wastes be more effectively utilised to address soil fertility problems? The research programme as a whole is also intended to result in information useful to developing environmental management planning blueprints for the city and its region in the longer term. Findings to date regarding the merit of the concept of the 'peri-urban interface' suggest the following positive indications: Such a concept can contribute an extra dimension to understanding rural-urban interactions. It emphasises flows of commodities, labour, waste, pollution and energy, so lends a new perspective to issues. It demonstrates the area's dynamism in respect of socio-economic, institutional and environmental change. It challenges the more traditional rural-urban divide idea, prevalent in academic and local government circles. More directly policy-relevant findings include the following: The dynamic nature of the peri-urban interface makes it hard for institutitions to adapt to the impacts of change. Planning approaches need revision to take account of this dynamism and the swift rate of change it engenders. Labour markets are influenced by proximity to urban areas; farming practices must adapt to labour shortages. There is scope for further enabling action by governments to reduce bottlenecks in local commodity markets. Source: Baseline Study and Introductory Workshop for Hubli-Dharwad City-region, Karnataka, India, edited by the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Wales at Bangor, UK, under the Peri-Urban Production System Research of the Natural Resources Systems Programme of DfID. Funded by DfID, Natural Resources Systems Programme R6825 (1997) Further information: F Nunan and A W Shepherd School of Public Policy University of Birmingham Birmingham B15 2TT, UK Tel. +44 (0)121 414 4965 Fax. +44 (0)121 414 4989 Email. [email protected] Academic staff and publications Fiona NUNAN Curriculum Vitae Profession: Lecturer in Environmental Policy and Management Nationality: British D of B: 1968 Qualifications 1990: B.Sc. (Chemistry with Management Science) University of Kent 1993: MA (Environment, Development and Policy) University of Sussex 1998: PhD Environmental Policy-Making in the UK, University of Birmingham Research 1999: Project leader on research to develop a decision framework for valuing peri-urban natural resource productivity - part of the Peri-Urban Interface Production System Research programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) Economic Valuation of Environmental Renovation: The River Tame Corridor. A research project funded by the University of Birmingham. 2 1998-99: Project leader on research looking at urban waste and soil fertility in HubliDharwad, India - part of the Peri-Urban Interface Production System Research programme funded by DFID Research into urban environmental issues in Southern countries as part of a DFID funded project on Urban Governance, Partnership and Poverty 1997: Peri-urban interface research on natural resource management issues in HubliDharwad, India (DFID funded) 1996: Scoping Study in South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan), (DFID funded) 1996: Consultation on Sustainability Indicators - project funded by Birmingham City Council 1994-95: Valuing the environmental impacts of landfilling and recycling solid waste in Bangkok. Project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, as part of the Global Environmental Change programme Publications: "Improved Utilisation of Urban Waste by Near-Urban Farmers in the Hubli-Dharwad CityRegion: Inception Report", School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham (with Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Wales, Bangor and University of Agricultural Sciences and SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad, India), May 1998. "Local Agenda 21: Developing Sustainability Indicators" Report on a study commissioned by Birmingham City Council, School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, February 1997. "Public Opinion and Solid Waste in Bangkok", Local Environment, 1, 2, 1996. "Public Valuation of Solid Waste Impacts: a case study in Bangkok" (with Ian Blore), in "Sustainable Development in a Developing World" edited by Colin Kirkpatrick and Norman Lee (Edward Elgar), 1997. 3