ABSTRACT
The ‘countryside around towns weaves in and out of the built up area and is often characterised by new development, derelict and brownfield sites, retail and industrial parks, land fill sites and reservoirs’ (Countryside Agency, 2005: 4). In this book we have tried to add detail to the general image of the ruralurban fringe that can be gleaned from any train journey, or any trip between airport and hotel, in almost any city in the world. This anonymous, universal landscape has a dynamism that is often hidden from the casual observer. It is a landscape of intense land-use competition; with a historical and cultural heritage gained from past service to the built-up area it envelops; with a biological richness that is only now being recognized; offering a diversity of sociocultural opportunity; and home to a new service economy comprising basic functions ranging from distribution and storage to high-tech research and development. Many activities and functions find a home in the rural-urban fringe.
