- Peri-Urbanization and Its Impacts on Rural Livelihoods in Mumbai’s Urban Fringe    987 kb by    Kim, Minsun & Kidokoro, Tetsuo & Onishi, Takashi | ms129h@gmail.com    Short Outline This paper analyzes the dynamics of urban expansion and its impacts on land use and livelihoods of Mumbai's suburban villages, using the opportunities and constraints analysis for productive agriculture and formal employment in the non-agricultural sector. Abstract As the regional inequalities and livelihood strategies of the rural and urban people in Asian megacities have become increasingly multidimensional and multi-layered in the past decades, urban-rural linkages are expanding and receiving increased attention in the regional and local spatial planning policy and practice discourses. Irrational land tenure system and poorly planned and managed land use by the rural administrations could possibly become another strong trigger of conflicts, which are especially rampant in developing countries. Thus, it is essential that spatial planning policies and processes for metropolitan region to ensure equal opportunities to access to the regional resources from urban and rural side, take a balanced and mutually supportive approach to development of both urban and rural areas. This paper aimed to analyze long-term trends in land-use change and clarify various factors which have influenced spatial pattern of urban expansion in Mumbai metropolitan region - one of the most rapidly urbanizing and industrializing cities in Asia. A detailed case study on accessibility of physical assets and rural livelihood transformation of suburban villages in Panvel block, Raigad district revealed urbanization effects on the local society and their implications for urban-rural linkages in the region. These findings showed that the improvement in public transportation system and broadening telecommunication network has brought opportunities to non-agricultural employment in small and intermediate urban centers especially for the young generations living near the urban fringe. However, access to formal and high-wage jobs are remain limited due to the lack of education and vocational training. On the other hand, land tenure insecurity and uncertainty appeared to be the major constraint upon the changeover to the urban agriculture, thus provision of political and planning response to these issues is urgently required. Keywords Rural-urban Linkage, Rural-urban Relationship, Peri-Urbanization, Urban Agriculture Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2012: Fast Forward: Planning in a (hyper) dynamic urban context   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper