Cities globally have witnessed rapid growth, with the world’s population becoming more urban than rural over the last decade. In Australia, this has led to rapid urban expansion into the peri-urban fringes to provide housing and services for its population. The subsequent loss of agricultural land is largely seen as a market driven process, however increasing attention has been given to the contributory role of land use planning policy, systems, and public actors in specific contexts.

This study examines the drivers of peri-urban agricultural land loss in Greater Western Sydney (GWS), one of the fastest growing peri-urban regions in Australia, and on the particular contribution of government planning policy and resultant tensions between state and local government decision making. The objectives of the study are three-fold: 

1. To determine the current size and value of peri-urban agriculture land in GWS, and the extent of its loss over time,
2. To examine the price differential between rural and housing land uses, and the ways in which market forces have influenced land use conversion, and 
3. To investigate the role of government agencies in managing the loss – or preservation – of peri-urban agriculture land in the context of on-going housing pressures.