Welsh Journals

Attitudes of Hobby and Commercial Farmers in the Roral-Urban Fringe of London, Óntario. R.L.LAYTON. Epping Forest Conservation Centre, Essex. (Received March 1980 in revised form March 1981) Abstract This paper seeks to compare the attitudes of landowners of the rural- urban fringe as to their perception of the rural-urban fringe as a place to live. The study focuses on their attitudes as to what they perceive as desirable landscape features. In addition, the actual location of these landowners is investigated in order to ascertain if there is any association between landscape preference and actual location. The study compares commercial and so-called hobby farmers who vary in background, personal characteristics and aspirations. The study area is the rural-urban fringe of London, Ontario. The Rural-Urban Fringe The area immediately adjacent to the City commonly referred to as the rural-urban fringe is a well established field of research both in the United States (Waldo, 1963; Wehrwein, 1942; Gottmann, 1964) and in Canada where studies have been carried out both at the Nat- ional level (Bryant, 1975; Martin, 1975;) and at the individual City level (Punter, 1974; Russwurm, 1961; Troughton, 1975). A recent development, recognised by all the above researchers, and others, is the emergence in the rural-urban fringe of a distinct land owner- ship community with strong urban linkages frequently referred to as hobby farmers and defined below. Thus, Moncrieff and Phillips (1972) in a review study of Urban centres in Alberta mention that:- "Among the phenomena associated with the growth and expansion of large urban centres there emerges a new phenomena in the rural-urban interface. It is the dev- elopment of acreages commonly between 3 and 20 acres in size located within commuting distance of an urban centre and characterised by a residence that is occupied on a per- manent basis." To date research on this phenomenon has been rather limited, again as Moncrieff and Phillips state: "Existing literature is not adequate to explain factors giving rise to this type of development". Troughton (1975) more recently in a concluding paragraph to a report on hobby farming in the rural-urban fringe of London, Ontario, confirms this view remarking that:- "While the foregoing paragraphs (The study) indicate