Development, dilution, and functional change in the peri-urban landscape: What does it really mean for agriculture?

Abstract

For several decades, patterns of Australia's population change have included processes of counter-urbanization and dispersal focused on the peri-urban regions around Australia's cities. Consequent forms of development have included scattered housing in rural landscapes and agricultural restructure reflecting this new role for these regions. By implication this has resulted in new land uses and impacts on previous agricultural activity. However, for agricultural output the consequences are complex. Evidence suggests that despite long-term trends towards multifunctional rural landscapes in peri-urban Australia, the net value of agricultural output has not declined. Yet there is a shift towards a polarization of farm structure in peri-urban Australia; a growing number of small farms coupled with fewer, yet larger operations, including intensive farming. While net agricultural output has apparently not changed significantly, the makeup and the long-term status of farming enterprises in these places has altered, resulting in risks for viability at a regional level into the future. The diminished certainty this situation provides suggests risks for future industry structure and output and food production in the rural regions closest to the largest population centers.