Adaptive pathways
Rural-urban linkage pathways:
Changsha shows different peri-urban themes divided into different zones from enclaves of high-class residential areas, zones with key infrastructures for regulating floods and areas of predominantly agriculture and low-class social groups. Maintaining the uniqueness of each zones can be equally important with improving connectivity between the different peri-urban zones. However, strengthening rural-urban linkage is most essential in the social domain. This points at the transformation of jobs and social status of local people from farming to a more urban based jobs alongside rural-urban migration. Importantly, there is a need to identify potential policy areas (and programs, funding etc) which enables the empowerment of local people to retain and increase the value of farming to follow on the central government’s compensation scheme.
Climate resilience and vulnerability pathway
With imminent increase in the event of flooding, the climate resilient pathway shall focus on strengthening this particular ecosystem services provided by the peri-urban areas. The water reservoir situated in the north peri-urban should retain their service and needs to find ways to extend the provision in other locations. This water infrastructure can also be a component to support the supply of water for agriculture to anticipate imminent droughts as temperature is predicted to rise. The climate resilient pathway thus themes on creating water sensitive urban design to channel policies for a better management of areas along the Xiangjiang River.
Collaborative and integrative governance pathway
In general, the central government have significant roles, and power, to control peri-urban development. This can be a positive governance arrangement in the sense that the utilisation of peri-urban spaces is strictly controlled to avoid over-exploitation by market-driven development agenda. To enhance the practice under this institutional structure, the governance pathway thus suggests a stronger collaboration both vertically (between central and local government), horizontally (between authorities of urban centre and peri-urban) and sectors (private, public, agriculture, water infrastructures, housing).