During modernity metropolitan ruralities have been regarded as land reserves for urban expansion. However, there is a growing insight that there are limits to the urban expansion into rural areas. This volume discusses potential developments in urban (and rural) policy and planning which need to be considered.

1. Introduction - Kjell Andersson, Stefan Sjo¨Blom, Leo Granberg, Peter Ehrstro¨M and Terry Marsden PART I: URBAN SPRAWL 2. Neither Urban nor Rural: Urban Growth, Economic Functions and the Use of Land in the Mediterranean Fringe - Luca Salvati 3. The Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Swedish-Speaking Finns. Challenges and Opportunities for a Regionally Based Ethnic Group - Kjell Andersson, Kenneth Nordberg and Erland Eklund PART II: RURBANISATION 4. Long Wave of Rural Research from Combating Poverty to Sustaining Ecosystems - Leo Granberg 5. Relations and Areas of Interaction Between Landowners in a Peri-Urban Area - Ann-Sofie Richardt 6. Transformation and Survival Strategy - Rural Gentrification and Social Sustainability in Gentrified Metropolitan and Urban Ruralities, the Case of Sundom, Vaasa, Finland - Peter Ehrstrom PART III: GOVERNANCE 7. Envisioning Opportunities for Agriculture in Peri-Urban Areas - Elke Rogge, Eva Kerselaers and Charlotte Prove 8. Programme- and Project-Based Metropolitan Governance and Citizen Participation: a Case Study from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area - Kanerva Kuokkanen 9. The Prospects for Bridging Spatial and Institutional Divides Within Regions: Rural-Urban Relationships in a Projectified Governance Context - Stefan Sjoblom and Kjell Andersson 10. Regional Spatial Planning, Government and Governance as Recipe for Sustainable Development? - Andrea Frank and Terry Marsden PART IV: METABOLISM 11. Exploring Innovation and Sustainability in the Metropolitan Rural Areas of Budapest and Paris - Bernadett Csurgo, Imre Kovach and Nicole Mathieu 12. Urban Food Strategies. Exploring Definitions and Diffusion of European Cities’ Latest Policy Trend - Agnese Cretella 13. Conclusion - Kjell Andersson, Stefan Sjoblom, Leo Granberg, Peter Ehrstrom and Terry Marsden

Metropolitan Ruralities explores many of the complex rural/ urban relationships of our time. While previously rural areas were seen as reserves for urban expansion, there is now finally recognition that such a path, if unabated, could threaten human existence. This volume coherently makes this argument. This excellent volume addresses some of the most critical questions about the rural/ urban nexus. It raises complex questions about governance, the consumption of the rural, and focuses on the important dimensions of social class, gender and global location. The important argument is made that the urban-rural fringe needs to be examined as a space in and for itself, rather than a space for something else, and this is an important contribution to current debates on spatial flows. The volume is coherently organised around the four themes of urban sprawl, urbanisation, governance and metabolism. It brings together leading scholars and it is a volume that will be valuable for academics and PhD researchers across the globe.

Metropolitan Ruralities explores many of the complex rural/ urban relationships of our time. While previously rural areas were seen as reserves for urban expansion, there is now finally recognition that such a path, if unabated, could threaten human existence. This volume coherently makes this argument. This excellent volume addresses some of the most critical questions about the rural/ urban nexus. It raises complex questions about governance, the consumption of the rural, and focuses on the important dimensions of social class, gender and global location. The important argument is made that the urban-rural fringe needs to be examined as a space in and for itself, rather than a space for something else, and this is an important contribution to current debates on spatial flows. The volume is coherently organised around the four themes of urban sprawl, urbanisation, governance and metabolism. It brings together leading scholars and it is a volume that will be valuable for academics and PhD researchers across the globe. -- Professor Sally Shortall