Explaining the Emergence of Land-Use Frontiers

Land use expansion is linked to major sustainability concerns includingclimate change, food security and biodiversity loss. This expansion is largelyconcentrated in so-called frontiers, defined here as places experiencing markedtransformations due to rapid resource exploitation. Understanding themechanisms shaping these frontiers is crucial for sustainability. Previous workfocused mainly on explaining how active frontiers advance, in particular intotropical forests. Comparatively, our understanding of how frontiers emerge interritories considered marginal in terms of agricultural productivity andglobal market integration remains weak. We synthesize conceptual toolsexplaining resource and land-use frontiers, including theories of land rent andagglomeration economies, of frontiers as successive waves, spaces ofterritorialization, friction, and opportunities, anticipation and expectation.We then propose a new theory of frontier emergence, which identifies exogenouspushes, legacies of past waves, and actors anticipations as key mechanisms bywhich frontiers emerge. Processes of abnormal rent creation and capture and thebuilt-up of agglomeration economies then constitute key mechanisms sustainingactive frontiers. Finally, we discuss five implications for the governance offrontiers for sustainability. Our theory focuses on agriculture anddeforestation frontiers in the tropics, but can be inspirational for otherfrontier processes including for extractive resources, such as minerals.