Reclaiming localisation for revitalising agriculture: A case study of peri-urban agricultural change in Gothenburg, Sweden

•A location-focused analysis of peri-urban agricultural change in the era of urbanisation and globalisation.•A reverse von Thünen's transportation pattern is enabled by the proximity to urban consumers.•Competitive advantage can be enhanced on peri-urban farms by adopting production strategies for saving labour costs.•The simultaneous processes that produce the diverse forms of agriculture between farms.•If policy makers want to support peri-urban farming, one key method is to separate land value from land rent.

Agriculture near urban landscapes has recently been re-appreciated with the recognition of its economic, social and environmental contributions. However, rapid urbanisation and global agricultural restructuring constituting complex processes across multiple scales tend to threaten the survival of peri-urban agriculture. Focusing on family farms near Gothenburg in Sweden, this paper intends to explore the relations between location and agriculture and how family farms have been able to continue farming in peri-urban areas. Unlike previous studies of peri-urban agriculture, mostly carried out by planners from an urban-centric perspective, this paper deploys a rural and place-based perspective by drawing on theories of agricultural location. Based on statistical and spatial analyses of land use change, and interviews with farmers and authorities, the processes and drivers of local agricultural change are analysed. The results identify four simultaneous processes that produce the diversity in forms of agriculture between farms: structural changes, loss of farmland to urban expansion, specialisation of on-farm activities and a niching trend of on-farm activities. The new findings which shed light on the theory of agricultural localisation are: 1) niche production greatly takes advantage of the peri-urban location; 2) a reverse von Thünen's transportation pattern is enabled by the proximity to urban consumers; 3) enhancing competitive advantage through saving labour costs is enabled by the direct relation to consumers at the peri-urban location; 4) multifunctional agriculture has potential but also raises conflicts between different types of land use in peri-urban areas; 5) a secured access to land for farmers enabled by the local governance which separates the increasing land value from land rent is fundamental for supporting continued peri-urban agriculture. Our recommendation is that policy makers need to shift to a location-sensitive governing praxis of agriculture in order to re-vitalise peri-urban areas.