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The situations currently defined by the term “peri-urban” have been known for a long time. However the subject only became an explicit research area for sociologists from the 1980s. Using changing definitions and a range of approaches, in terms of administrative boundaries and perspectives, sociology identifies and studies contrasting areas. Through their dialogue with other disciplines, especially geography, planning, development studies and economics, sociologists have contributed to considerable debate about the nature of these spaces and the particularities of the people who inhabit them. This literature review provides an introduction to the knowledge that has accumulated and the issues that remain to be answered.