Specific forms of urbanisation are evolving on the peripheries of the large developing metropolises. These processes of peri-urbanisation result in the formation of “mixed spaces”, midway between urban centres and rural spaces – transitory spaces subject to rapid and multiple transformations. Our initial hypothesis in order to understand these processes is the non-neutrality of location in the metropolitan areas. The urban peripheries do not constitute a simple framework of analysis, but a specific space whose use corresponds to diverse and often conflicting stakes indicative of processes involving a political and societal vision of the city and access to the city. The need for housing, especially by the poor, the maintenance of greenbelts and the development of new industrial zones, enter into competition. The arbitration and management of these coveted spaces are rendered problematic when they are situated beyond the administrative limits of the city in zones that are generally not recognised as specific entities of planning. The issues of conflicting stakes and governance in the metropolitan peripheries are examined on the basis of selected cases studies of large Indian metropolises, that aim to highlight the role of the various actors, traditional as well as emerging ones, in shaping peri-urban dynamics.