The spatial structure and economic development of cities are the most prominent components of these national urban policies. When policymakers decide on important issues such as poverty reduction and economic development, then they classify the activities as either rural or urban. In many instances however, this distinction has been used to show differences between the two settlement patterns, and consistently has overlooked their interlinkages, complementarities and synergies.111' This has been against recorded historical development trends which have shown that, urban-rural linkages include important flows of people, natural resources, capital, goods, ecosystem services, information, technology, ideas and innovation. These are important drivers of economic activities and contribute significantly to overall poverty reduction in a region.*1"This illustrates interdependent, intertwined and complementary functional and productive settlement systems. Strong linkages among urban, rural, peri-urban and other settlements enhance sustainable development, because they channel resources to where they have the largest net economic and social benefits.