A partnership research project led by Birmingham City University
LWM is a partner in an interdisciplinary research project with Birmingham City University (BCU) and a number of other partners, addressing the need for improved management of the rural-urban fringe. The project is funded by the UK Research Councils’ Rural Economy and Land Use Programme as part of their environmental change agenda.
Led by Dr Alister Scott, the project sits within the newly formed Centre for Environment and Social Research at BCU.
As Dr Scott explains “This space where town meets country is often amongst the most valued for conservation, recreation and development activities, yet, arguably, lacks full appreciation for effective and integrated management. This research answers three fundamental questions:
1. What is the nature of the rural-urban fringe; all too often we see it from the urban-led perspective.
2. How is this “rural-urban fringe” changing?
3. And how can we manage change successfully in places of such diversity, conflict and transition?”
LWM has a keen interest in policy for the conflicts and synergies between rural and urban areas in the region and hopes to contribute a perspective on the potential for small-scale diverse, distributed economic networks in this fringe area to the RELU project. The rural-urban fringe demonstrates unsustainable development in many ways, perhaps fuelled by the pressure to cater for those who want the economic advantages of urban employment combined with the space and prestige or rural housing and amenities.