The Rural-Urban Fringe

The Fringe

• The Rural-Urban fringe is the name given to the land at the edge of an urban area, where there is often a huge mixture of land uses.

• Often science parks, business parks and industrial estates locate in the rural-urban fringe as the land is cheaper, there is room for expansion and they are closer to transport links to allow export and import of goods.

The Fringe

• Motorways and by-passes, such as the M25 and the Newbury by-pass have been built on the rural-urban fringe, much to the disgust of environmental groups who feel that the area should be kept as green as possible.

• Recreational land-uses such as golf courses and leisure parks have been established in the rural-urban fringe.

• Housing has also encroached into the rural-urban fringe, and small villages have grown as more people move out of the cities and commute to work.

The Fringe

• Out-of-town shopping centres also find that the space available, good transport connections and cheap land encourage them to establish in the rural-urban fringe.

• Farming still occurs in the rural-urban fringe, although the farmers often come under great pressure to sell their land for development.

• A farmer will make far more money from a sale if there is already planning permission for building to occur on the land.