Towards a typology of agri-urban patterns to support spatial planning: evidence from Lisbon, Portugal

Urbanisation in Europe has been the main cause of agricultural land fragmentation and agricultural land use loss and has given rise to significant socio-economic and environmental costs, particularly in urban regions. Accordingly, there is a consensus in the literature that sustaining urban and peri-urban agriculture are significant towards urban sustainable development. This paper aims to characterise agri-urban spatial patterns and changes occurring in the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR) by using indicators from both urban and agricultural dimensions. A self-organising map (SOM) clustering method was used to build an agri-urban classification. Nine clusters were proposed. We found that in the LMR, urban and agriculture patterns are diverse: agriculture can range from gardening to intensive and extensive forms; and from decline to stability. We discuss that the use of multidimensional indicators enables comprehensive typologies and allows for a better territorial diagnosis that can contribute to informing decision-makers towards more effective protection of agriculture in spatial planning.

Automated summary

This study investigates the agricultural-urban spatial patterns and changes in the Lisbon metropolitan region using indicators from both urban and agricultural dimensions. The results show diverse urban and agriculture patterns ranging from gardening to intensive and extensive forms, and from decline to stability in the Lisbon metropolitan region.