Geografisk Tidsskrift Danish Journal of Geography 111(1):59–72, 2011 Peri-urbanisation, as a process of the physical expansion of settlement areas but also socio-economic transformation, has been recognised as a major spatial development beyond the urban fringes. Agriculture, the main land use actor in the hinterlands of many urban areas is increasingly affected by urban encroachment, responds with adaptation strategies and farming activities to cope with the peri-urban framework conditions. Adaptation pathways encompass specialisation into horticulture as well as enhanced environmental and lifestyle orientation offarming—typical elements of multifunctional agriculture. However, due to the heterogeneity of the peri- urbanisation processes also differences in farming transition are expected. Based on a differentiation into displaced-urbanisation, ex-urbanisation, anti-urbanisation and hidden-urbanisation as main types of peri-urbanisation, variances of farming responses are elaborated for municipal entities in the Copenhagen region in Denmark using statistical census data. Under consideration of location determinants, regression models have been applied to analyse the inter-relationship between different peri-urbanisation processes and multifunctional farming activities. Findings confirm that the differentiation of peri-urban processes is meaningful for the explanation of spatial distribution of farm adaptation strategies, particularly in the case of leisure and environmental oriented farm practices.

Digital transformation is shaping our lives and altering planning. Digitalization is closely linked to smart governance, through which administrative units such as cities and regions increasingly offer digital services related to spatial planning. However, the increasing digitalization of spatial planning has received little attention in academic planning literature, and few studies have analysed how digitalization affects planning practice. The aim of this study was to help fill this gap by developing an analytical framework based on efficiency, transparency and innovation, to explore how digital plan data affect land-use planning. The framework was applied in a multi-case study analysis of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In this study, which is one of the first to shed empirical light on the digital transformation of land-use planning, we found changes in planning practice mainly in terms of efficiency and transparency, less in terms of innovation. We have identified a great need for further research to attend critically to digital transformation of planning in order to optimize the benefits for planning practice and to avoid an unreflective shift towards technocratic planning practices.

Small towns are often considered as losing out in the current trend towards urban development. However, research from around Europe shows a great diversity of small town development, including successful development trajectories despite geographical disadvantages. Investigations into this are predominately done in the context of economic development and urban systems, but such approaches fail to explain why a number of small towns that are not centrally located near a metropolitan region are not in decay. This paper examines how the restructuring of retail and service sectors, demographic composition, residential migration, social organisation and community engagement form and affect small town (1000–5000 inhabitants) development patterns in Denmark and specific place-based endowments. The study is carried out with mixed methods, comprising a quantitative analysis of development trends, complemented by qualitative case studies in six small towns. Our findings show how favourable development paths are a combination of a positive development in population, provision of daily commodities and attractive housing, and a high number of local voluntary social organisations. Introducing the concept of ‘residential urbanism’, the paper discusses the extent to which a residentially driven urban development can compensate for the generally unfavourable regional development context.

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(1):47–63, 2010 The growth of urban areas is one of the most important characteristics of spatial development in Europe during the past decades and is traditionally described with a few indicators on a relatively coarse spatial scale. However, urbanisation is not only a matter of land use change, but also socio-economic changes, which may or may not manifest itself as physical changes in built-up area and land use. It is therefore useful to analyse the urbanisation patterns along an urban-rural continuum, based on a broad range of indicators. This paper analyses urbanisation patterns in rural areas of Region Midtjylland, Denmark using socio-economic data from the entire rural population aggregated at parish level to investigate if this method may contribute to existing classifications. Through multivariate analysis and GIS analysis, five types of urbanization were identified and their spatial distribution analysed. The results indicate that rural areas of Region Midtjylland are very diverse, and generally reflect the pattern described in the 2006 Danish National Planning Report. However, our results offer a more fine-grained analysis based on scientifically selected indicators which is an important step to improve existing classifications. This is especially relevant in a Danish context following the administrative reform in 2007 which renders the traditional classifications less suited for locally adapted planning and policy formulation.