Project

Governance of peri-urban land and water commons in the Global North and the Global South

The value of peri-urban commons is a source of conflict and development in both the Global North and South. As buffer zones between urban and rural land, peri-urban commons can foster the socio-ecological resilience for residents and other users in urban, rural and peri-urban areas: extensively managed and multifunctional, they provide services like flood protection, food production, biodiversity, recreation, dwelling and space for entrepreneurial innovation. However, as open, transitional spaces, the value of peri-urban areas is often contested and pressured for rapid processes of urbanization and privatization, leading to a depletion of peri-urban commons in the global South and North. This PhD project seeks to explain the mechanisms underlying processes of decommoning and recommoning in several countries: what can peri-urban commons contribute to the socio-ecological system of urban and rural stakeholders, how do conflicts arise, and how are they governed - through collective action via stakeholders?