I. K. Manonmani

Land Use is Fringe Areas and Problems of Suburbs - Madurai City: an Analysis of Land Use in Fringe Areas and Residential Pattern, Socio-economic Characteristics and Problems of Suburbs I. K. Manonmani

Urbanization is one of the most powerful socio-economic components of modern society. It is a dynamic force since it undergoes considerable spatial and temporal variations. Primarily it is a process of shift of population from village to city (Trewartha, 1951). This transformation is more visible and dynamic in the peripheral areas of cities because horizontal expansion is more common than vertical expansion. The cities are expanding in all directions resulting in large scale urban sprawl and changes in urban land use. The spatial pattern of such changes is clearly noticed on the urban fringes or city peripheral rural areas, than in the city centre. This has made the fringe area of the city to be the most dynamic landscape. In the modern age of urban expansion ?fringe? is of much significance. The term ?fringe? suggests a border ? line case between the rural and the urban and it actually lies on the periphery of urban areas, surrounding it and distinguishing it from the truly rural countryside. The rural ? urban fringe, in the real sense is a narrow zone with varying width outside the political boundaries of an urban unit which is neither urban nor rural in character.