ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the theoretical discussions on concepts and models of peri-urban areas, and places them within the broader literature on rural–urban interactions and linkages. However, in reality, the urban–rural relationship was too complex to simply divide the national policy into “urban bias” or “rural bias,” and it was difficult to measure the degree of bias. In China, for example, after more than two decades of urban priority development since the reform opening, the central government introduced the strategy of urban–rural coordinated development in 2003. Realizing the problems and potential social and economic risk, scholars have addressed the significance of urban–rural linkages since the 1980s. The rapid growth and mobility of urban population in the third-world has led to new changes in urban–rural linkage. From a broader regional perspective, urban linkages between these mega-urban regions have been enhanced as a result of growing economic interaction.
