The Rural-urban fringe

Supporting Exercises

1. Study Figure 3 which shows a model of the rural-urban fringe in North America.
   Which areas on Figure 3 would you classify as suburbanised, and which areas would you classify as counterurbanised?
   
2. Describe how Figure 4 explains the process of suburbanisation.
   
3. Use Figures 5 and 6 to identify examples of settlements that are:
   a. suburbanised
   b. counterurbanised.
   
4. How does the case study of the Epsom hospital cluster illustrate that suburbanisation continues to take place on the edge of the London conurbation?

Comments

1. Suburbanised – the peripheral accretion areas, and the linear developments that adjoin the urban area.
   Counterurbanised – areas beyond 10km, both linear developments and leap-frogged areas.
   
2. Continual growth in each time period. Each period having a rural-urban fringe, which is then taken over by subsequent urban growth. The accretion idea.
   
3. Suburbanised – Epsom, Chessington, Purley, Coulsdon, Cheam.
   Counterurbanised – Walton on the Hill, Dorking, Reigate, Redhill.
   
4. Main points:
   • the development of a former hospital site – a rural fringe activity
   • it is not green belt land per se, but a re-use of an existing feature
   • the cluster is close to the existing urban area of Epsom
   • the ‘complimentary’ local facilities to be provided
   • the increase in traffic volumes in the area, and within Epsom town centre that have been generated.