Sprawling cities shift fringe areas towards new land uses (including residential, industrial and business areas) and away from their traditional social and economic functions (Seret et al, 2014). Land use planners need to balance diverse interests in such areas, such as the need to protect open green space and natural amenities, to protect agricultural lands, to provide critical infrastructure and transportation for growing urban areas and to meet housing demand. The push and pull between these various uses is inherently tied to questions of how this space should be governed and how' to define the public interest in questions about how’ land should be used and developed (or not, as the case may be).