peri-urban

US/ˌpɛɹ.iˈɝ.bən/

adjective

Immediately adjoining an urban area; between the suburbs and the countryside.

Meanings

adjectiveperi-urban (comparative more peri-urban, superlative most peri-urban)

comparative more peri-urban · superlative most peri-urban · alternative periurban

  1. Immediately adjoining an urban area; between the suburbs and the countryside.

    Urban agriculture is the growing of plants and raising of animals in and around urban or peri-urban areas.

    2010, Leslie A. Duram, Encyclopedia of Organic, Sustainable, and Local Food, ABC-CLIO, LLC, published 2010, →ISBN, page 361
    3 more examples

    Although Lusaka is the smallest town in Lusaka Province and one of the smallest in the nation, it has the biggest population and largest growth rates, and there is pressure from in-migration and growth in peri-urban settlements.

    2010, United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Solid Waste Management in the World's Cities: Water and Sanitation in the World's Cities 2010, Earthscan, →ISBN, page 66

    In this respect, Yuxi represents an intermediate case, between the encompassing model of residence-based citizenship being created in peri-urban communities around Changsha and the gender exclusivity of Fuzhou villages.

    2011, Sally Sargeson, Song Yu, “Gender, Citizenship, and Agency in Land Development”, in Tamara Jacka, Sally Sargeson, editors, Women, Gender and Development in Rural China, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 43

    “We would expect peri-urban land to be more fertile than average land, as mankind tends to settle where crops can be produced,” says Felix Creutzig from the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin, and principal author on the paper.

    2016 December 27, Emma Bryce, “Growing mega-cities will displace vast tracts of farmland by 2030, study says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Ancient Greekπερῐ́ (perĭ́)
  3. Englishperi-
  4. Englishurban
  5. Englishperi-urban

From peri- + urban.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic طَرِيق فَرْعِيّ
  • طَرِيق فَرْعِيّ (ṭarīq farʕiyy)immediately adjoining an urban area
Finnish ympärys-, reuna-
  • ympärys-immediately adjoining an urban area
  • reuna-immediately adjoining an urban area
  • reunus-immediately adjoining an urban area
  • kehys-immediately adjoining an urban area
French périurbain
  • périurbainimmediately adjoining an urban area
Greek περιαστικός
  • περιαστικός (periastikós)immediately adjoining an urban area
Swedish stadsnära
  • stadsnäraimmediately adjoining an urban area
Cite this entry
APA

peri-urban. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peri-urban

MLA

“peri-urban.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peri-urban. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peri-urban,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peri-urban.

Source: peri-urban on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.