Land use on the periphery of urban centres is of critical importance in the sustainability of healthy cities, food security, and natural resource management. The paper argues that it is essential to recognise the “public good” of open space and agriculture in the urban and periurban contexts.

The importance of periurban agriculture for a healthy city and the advantages of retaining agriculture are being increasingly recognised in rhetoric, but not in planning strategies, although the urbanisation of agriculturally productive land is of concern around many cities.