peri-urbanisation

thumb|270px|right|Mountain valleys of industrialised countries (e.g. Inn valley) are often periurbanised. thumb|270px|right|The periurbanised Swiss Limmat valley. thumb|Hospital in a peri-urban area in Gijón. Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics. Such areas may be referred to as the rural–urban fringe, the outskirts or the urban hinterland.

== Etymology == The expression originates from the French word '' ("peri-urban" meaning "around urban"), which is used by the INSEE (the French statistics agency) to describe spaces—between the city and the countryside—that are shaped by the fragmented urbanisation of former rural areas in the urban fringe, both in a qualitative (e.g. diffusion of urban lifestyle) and in a quantitative (e.g. new residential zones) sense. It is frequently seen as a result of post-modernity. In science, the term was used initially in France and Switzerland.