What can we do to preserve agriculture in peri-urban areas?

Abstract

Land abandonment is primarily caused by a diversity of social, political, and economic factors (Dolton-Thornton, 2021). We argue that those realities are strongly differentiated between peri-urban and rural areas. Agricultural land in peri-urban areas is a commodity which is kept idle for speculation. Agricultural land in mountains and remote marginal areas is abandoned for reasons such as demographic decline or globalisation (EU CAP NETWORK, 2023). This mini paper aims to illustrate how the strategies regarding the recovery of abandoned agricultural land need to consider different typologies of land under abandonment, such as mountain areas, remote marginal areas, and peri-urban areas. As cities grow, demand for land and changes in land uses are placing large pressure on peri-urban land. Studies are showing that there is a surprising amount of open space and usable land which could be allocated or leased for food production, safeguarding a range of land uses within a framework of medium-long-term, balanced and sustainable agro-urban development (Bouma, 2021; Delgado, 2021; Dolton-Thornton, 2021; Gottero et al., 2023). We need another rationale and more green solutions for our peri-urban areas, and the sustainable management of agricultural land is the way.