The Potential Impact of Peri-Urbanisation to the Continuity of Agricultural Practices Surrounding Malang City, Indonesia: A Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis

Urbanisation has caused a significant increase in the sprawl of urban settlement. Some researchers introduced the phenomena of peri-urbanisation where the peri-urban areas have become an extension of urban system. Consequently, the existence of peri-urban agriculture is under the threat of land conversion, particularly into housing and other settlement-related services. This study is among the research that provides empirical evidence of the contestation between urban housing expansion and the presence of agricultural land. By using the case of Malang Regency in East Java Province where the peri-urbanisation of Malang City has taken place, this research utilises the spatial autocorrelation analysis to explain the spatial pattern of peri-urbanisation. We found that all variables describing the agricultural sector in Malang Regency exhibit positive spatial autocorrelation with clustering patterns. The distribution of areas with High-High, Low-Low, Low-High, and High-Low agricultural conditions facilitates a more equitable distribution of agricultural resources in Malang Regency as a hinterland and Malang City as the centre of activities. Distance to the city area (Malang City) is one factor that causes clusters to form in the southern or northern areas of Malang Regency.