Cities as Coral Reefs: Using Rugosity to Measure Metabolism across the Urban Interface

Drawing from ecology, this research translates the metric of rugosity to urban and agricultural studies. Typically used to estimate the topography of complex ecosystems, rugosity is an important edge proxy and provides simple correlates for total ecosystem metabolism, growth, and resilience. This research uses the perimeter of urban areas to estimate urban rugosity. The relationship between urban rugosity and vitality of both urban and periurban agricultural land uses is empirically explored through spatial multivariate analysis. Findings show that longer urban interfaces are associated with greater population growth and higher agricultural sales. The resulting county-level model predicts that for every kilometer of urban interface, the annual agricultural sales increase by ∼$230,000. Urban areas with interfaces less than 65 km in length tended to lose population, and every kilometer of urban interface corresponded to a county population gain of roughly 250 people over the 2000 to 2010 time period. By showing a statistically significant positive relationship between the urban interface length and both population gain and agricultural productivity, this research lays the groundwork for future studies investigating how longer, less concentric urban interfaces might support the long-term vitality of both urban and agricultural areas alike. Key Words: edge effects, multifunctional agriculture, urban growth, urban morphology, urban planning.