Abstract:

This brief report was prepared based on existing literature that provides evidencebased, analytical answers to the following question: From the perspective of urban
development this paper addresses six key intellectual and policy issues that relate to the
relationship of urban centers with their rural hinterlands: (i) closer rural-urban linkages
characterize the relationships of today; (ii) urban footprint on rural hinterland, (iii) labor
markets; (iv) relevance of food markets for sustainability of cities, (v) climate change
impacts on rural areas and cities, and (vi) urban planning responses to the impacts of
urbanization. The focus of this report is ¨secondary cities¨, on small towns and mediumsized provincial cities, and not large cities (e.g., above 750,000 inhabitants) or urban
agglomerations. Whilst size matters, the key criterion is urban centres that have a strong
functional relationship with their rural hinterland.