PLUREL: Peri-urban Land Use Relationships ? Strategies and Sustainability Assessment Tools for Urban ? Rural Linkages
Plurel is a large research project funded within the 6th Research Framework Programme of the European Union. 31 partner organisations from 14 European countries and China participate in the project. It is led by the University of Copenhagen. The project started in 2007 and will terminate in 2010.
Challenges of Urbanisation
Urbanisation is arguably the most significant process of land use change in Europe. Over 70% of Europe?s population is now living in urban areas, and these in turn have grown by almost 80% over the last fifty years (EEA, 2006). The most obvious signs of this are the spread of built-up areas, and the creation of large transport networks, but the establishment of recreational facilities such as theme parks and golf courses and the conversion of farmsteads into residences and hobby farms in near-urban landscapes are also very visible markers of this drift to urbanisation.
The changing nature of the relationship between rural and urban land uses has deep consequences both for human quality of life and for the environment. To understand the processes that drive these changes, we need to improve our knowledge and create better tools to assess the future social, environmental and economic impacts of these changes. Only then can we identify effective strategies for the planning of sustainable land use systems.
- Title Original : PLUREL
- Website : http://www.plurel.net
- Notes : This project was coordinated by the University of Copenhagen. It involved some 30 partners from around Europe.
- Project start : 2007
- Project end : 2010
- Contact Person : Simon Bell
- Funding Agency : EU 6th Framework Programme of Research
- Image Title : Plurel logo
