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Keeping agriculture alive next to the city – The functions of the land tenure regime nearby Gothenburg, Sweden

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  • Wästfelt, Anders
  • Zhang, Qian

Abstract

Sustaining food production close to cities is not easy, as farming is often much less profitable compared to other activities in such locations, and it is at the frontier of resisting the pressures from urbanization and globalization. This study looks into an underexplored issue in peri-urban agriculture research – the role that land lease can play for preserving peri-urban agriculture. Leasing has increasingly become a common praxis in the Western industrialized world and it is a very necessary means for accessing limited farmland especially in peri-urban areas. Focusing on farms near Gothenburg, this study explores how the spatial structure of leasing brings opportunities as well as constraints to the change and continuation of farming in this peri-urban area. The investigation is guided by social, spatial and functional conceptualizations of land tenure, which 1) consider land tenure as a social relation, 2) are centered on functional constraints for agricultural production, and 3) highlight the spatial effects. Based on a combination of map interpretations, statistical analysis and interview analysis, the results show a strong and spatially structured pattern of production, farm and land use changes. Agriculture shows mainly to be driven by the landowner’s leasing strategies but is also shaped by the interplays between the landowner and the leasehold farmers. Existing food production farms have been able to rely on adding land from side lease for development even though the increase of small horse farms, holding whole-farm leases, makes it hard for new food production farms to start up. Policymakers are recommended to strategically use long-term leases as a policy instrument on municipal land at the peri-urban location, to incentivize food production farmers as well as to reduce land management costs.

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  • Wästfelt, Anders & Zhang, Qian, 2018. "Keeping agriculture alive next to the city – The functions of the land tenure regime nearby Gothenburg, Sweden," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 447-459.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:78:y:2018:i:c:p:447-459
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.06.053
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    5. João Carrilho & Jorge Trindade, 2022. "Sustainability in Peri-Urban Informal Settlements: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-35, June.
    6. Thareau, Bertille & Billaud, Jean-Paul, 2021. "Farmers’ land strategies in peri-urban areas: the case of Angevin conurbation," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 102(1), March.
    7. Movahedi, Reza & Jawanmardi, Sina & Azadi, Hossein & Goli, Imaneh & Viira, Ants-Hannes & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Why do farmers abandon agricultural lands? The case of Western Iran," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Adewale Henry Adenuga & Claire Jack & Ronan McCarry, 2021. "The Case for Long-Term Land Leasing: A Review of the Empirical Literature," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Dan Li & Wenjing Zhong & Yitao Chen, 2022. "The Role of Farmland Titling in Urban Agricultural Resilience: Evidence from Metropolitan Guangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, November.
    10. Bertille Thareau & Jean-Paul Billaud, 2021. "Farmers’ land strategies in peri-urban areas: the case of Angevin conurbation," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 59-79, March.
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