Rural area
Rural Society |
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In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities.[1] Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically described as rural, as well as other areas lacking substantial development. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes.
Rural areas have unique economic and social dynamics due to their relationship with land-based industry such as
Some communities have successfully encouraged economic development in rural areas, with policies such as increased access to electricity or internet. Historically, development policies have focused on larger extractive industries, such as mining and forestry. However, recent approaches more focused on sustainable development take into account economic diversification in these communities.
Regional definitions
North America
Canada
In Canada, the
Statistics Canada defines rural areas by their population counts. This definition has changed over time (see Appendix A in du Plessis et al., 2002). Typically, it has referred to the population living outside settlements of 1,000 or fewer inhabitants. The current definition states that census rural is the population outside settlements with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants and a population density below 400 people per square kilometer (Statistics Canada, 2007).
United States
Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as rural America,[2] consists of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one in five residents (17.9% of the total U.S. population), live in rural America. Definitions vary from different parts of the United States government as to what constitutes those areas.
Rural areas tend to be poorer and their populations are older than in other parts of the United States because of rural flight, declining infrastructure, and fewer economic prospects. The declining population also results in less access to services, such as high-quality medical and education systems.South America
Brazil
In Brazil, there are different notions of "rural area" and "countryside". Rural areas are any place outside a municipality's urban development (buildings, streets) and it is carried by informal usage. Otherwise, countryside (interior in Portuguese) are officially defined as all municipalities outside the state/territory capital's metropolitan region. Some states as Mato Grosso do Sul do not have any metropolitan regions, thus all of the state, except its capital is officially countryside. Rio de Janeiro is singular in Brazil and it is de facto a metropolitan state, as circa 70% of its population are located in Greater Rio. In the Federal District it is not applicable and there is no countryside as all of it is treated as the federal capital. Brasília is nominally the capital, but the capitality is shared through all Federal District, because Brazil de facto defines its capital as a municipality, and in municipal matters, the Federal District is treated and governs as a single municipality, city-state-like (Brasília, DF).
Europe
France
15% of the French population lives in rural areas, spread over 90% of the country. The government under President
In 2018, the government had launched the "Action Cœur de Ville" program to revitalize town centers across the country. 222 towns were selected as part of the five-year program. One of the program's aims is to make the towns attractive so the areas nearby can also benefit from investments.[5]
Germany
Germany is divided into 402 administrative districts, 295
United Kingdom
In Britain, "rural" is defined
Asia
China
India
Rural areas are also known as the 'countryside' or a '
Almost every Indian economic agency today has its own definition of rural India, some of which follow: According to the Planning Commission, a town with a maximum population of 15,000 is considered rural in nature. In these areas the
- An area with a population density of up to 400 per square kilometer,
- Villages with clear surveyed boundaries but no municipal board,
- A minimum of 75% of male working population involved in agriculture and allied activities.[10]
RBI defines rural areas as those areas with a population of less than 49,000 (tier -3 to tier-6 cities).[10]
It is generally said that the rural areas house up to 70% of India's population. Rural India contributes a large chunk to India's GDP by way of agriculture, self-employment, services, construction etc. As per a strict measure used by the National Sample Survey in its 63rd round, called monthly per capita expenditure, rural expenditure accounts for 55% of total national monthly expenditure. The rural population currently accounts for one-third of the total Indian FMCG sales.[10]
Japan
In Japan, rural areas are referred to as "Inaka" which translates literally to "the countryside" or "one's native village".[11][12]
Pakistan
According to the
The remote rural villagers of Pakistan commonly live in houses made of bricks, clay or mud.
Oceania
New Zealand
In New Zealand census areas are classified based on their degree of rurality. However, traffic law has a different interpretation and defines a Rural area as "... a road or a geographical area that is not an urban traffic area, to which the rural speed limit generally applies."[14]
Economics
Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems.[15] Rural development[16] and finance[17] attempt to solve larger challenges within rural economics. These economic issues are often connected to the migration from rural areas due to lack of economic activities[18] and rural poverty. Some interventions have been very successful in some parts of the world, with rural electrification and rural tourism providing anchors for transforming economies in some rural areas. These challenges often create rural-urban income disparities.[19]
Rural spaces add new challenges for economic analysis that require an understanding of economic geography: for example understanding of size and spatial distribution of production and household units and interregional trade,[20] land use,[21] and how low population density effects government policies as to development, investment, regulation, and transportation.[22]Development
Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas.[23] Often, rural regions have experienced rural poverty, poverty greater than urban or suburban economic regions due to lack of access to economic activities, and lack of investments in key infrastructure such as education.
Rural development has traditionally centered on the
Electricity
Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2019, 770 million people live without access to electricity – 10.2% of the global population.[28] Electrification typically begins in cities and towns and gradually extends to rural areas, however, this process often runs into obstacles in developing nations. Expanding the national grid is expensive and countries consistently lack the capital to grow their current infrastructure. Additionally, amortizing capital costs to reduce the unit cost of each hook-up is harder to do in lightly populated areas (yielding higher per capita share of the expense). If countries are able to overcome these obstacles and reach nationwide electrification, rural communities will be able to reap considerable amounts of economic and social development.
Migration
Rural flight (also known as rural-to-urban migration, rural depopulation, or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of people from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective.
In
The same phenomenon can also be brought about simply because of
Once rural populations fall below a critical mass, the population is too small to support certain businesses, which then also leave or close, in a vicious circle. Even in non-market sectors of the economy, providing services to smaller and more dispersed populations becomes proportionately more expensive for governments, which can lead to closures of state-funded offices and services, which further harm the rural economy. Schools are the archetypal example because they influence the decisions of parents of young children: a village or region without a school will typically lose families to larger towns that have one. But the concept (urban hierarchy) can be applied more generally to many services and is explained by central place theory.
Government policies to combat rural flight include campaigns to expand services to the countryside, such asPoverty
Rural communities also face disadvantages in terms of legal and social protections, with women and marginalized communities frequently having a harder time accessing land, education and other support systems that help with economic development. Several policies have been tested in both developing and developed economies, including rural electrification and access to other technologies such as internet, gender parity, and improved access to credit and income.
In academic studies, rural poverty is often discussed in conjunction with
Eradicating rural poverty through effective policies and economic growth is a continuing difficulty for the international community, as it invests in rural development.[33][35] According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, 70 percent of the people in extreme poverty are in rural areas, most of whom are smallholders or agricultural workers whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on agriculture.[36] These food systems are vulnerable to extreme weather, which is expected to affect agricultural systems the world over more as climate change increases.[37][38]
Thus theRural health
In
Rural populations often experience
Academic study
Because of their unique dynamics, different academic fields have developed to study rural communities.
Economics
Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems.[52] Rural development[53] and finance[54] attempt to solve larger challenges within rural economics. These economic issues are often connected to the migration from rural areas due to lack of economic activities[55] and rural poverty. Some interventions have been very successful in some parts of the world, with rural electrification and rural tourism providing anchors for transforming economies in some rural areas. These challenges often create rural-urban income disparities.[56]
Rural spaces add new challenges for economic analysis that require an understanding of economic geography: for example understanding of size and spatial distribution of production and household units and interregional trade,[57] land use,[58] and how low population density effects government policies as to development, investment, regulation, and transportation.[59]Rural planning
Rural planning is an academic discipline that exists within or alongside the field of urban planning, regional planning or urbanism. The definition of these fields differs between languages and contexts. Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably.
Specific interventions and solutions will depend entirely on the needs of each region in each country, but generally speaking, regional planning at the macro level will seek to:[60]
- Resist development in earthquake faults. These areas may be utilised as parks, or unimproved farmland.
- Designate transportation corridors using hubs and spokesand considering major new infrastructure
- Some thought into the various 'role's settlements in the region may play, for example some may be administrative, with others based upon manufacturing or transport.
- Consider designating essential nuisance land uses locations, including waste disposal.
- Designate Green belt land or similar to resist settlement amalgamation and protect the environment.
- Set regional level 'policy' and zoning which encourages a mix of housing values and communities.
- Consider building codes, zoning laws and policies that encourage the best use of the land.
- Allocation of land.
Sociology
Part of a series on |
Sociology |
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Rural sociology is a field of sociology traditionally associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural areas. It is an active academic field in much of the world, originating in the United States in the 1910s with close ties to the national Department of Agriculture and land-grant university colleges of agriculture.[61]
While the issue of natural resource access transcends traditional rural spatial boundaries, the sociology ofSee also
- American Old West
- Boondocks
- Bushland
- Country house
- Developed areas
- Digital divide
- Landed gentry
- Nature
- Outback
- Peasantry
- Rural Community Council
- Rural crafts
- Rural ghetto
- Rural Internet
- Urban decay
- Wilderness
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- ^ • Gustav Ranis and Frances Stewart (1993). "Rural Nonagricultural Activities in Development: Theory and Application," Journal of Development Economics, 40(1), pp. 75-101. Abstract.
• Jean O. Lanjouwb and Peter Lanjouw (2001). "The Rural Non-farm Sector: Issues and Evidence from Developing Countries," Agricultural Economics, 26(1), pp. 1-23. Abstract.
• Thomas Reardon et al. (2008). "Effects of Non-Farm Employment on Rural Income Inequality in Developing Countries: An Investment Perspective," Journal of Agricultural Economics,51(2), pp. 266-288. Abstract. - ^ • Thomas P. Tomich, Peter Kilby, and Bruce F. Johnston (1995). Transforming Agrarian Economies. Arrow-page searchable.
• Alain de Janvry, Rinku Murgai, and Elisabeth Sadoulet (2002). "Rural Development and Rural Policy," in Handbook of Agricultural Economics, v. 2A (scrollable preview), ch. 31. Abstract.
• Bruce L. Gardner (2005). "Causes of Rural Economic Development," Agricultural Economics, 32(s1), pp. 21-41. Abstract.
• Kiminori Matsuyama (2008). "Structural change," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics 2nd Edition. Abstract.
• Steven C. Deller et al. (2001). "The Role of Amenities and Quality of Life in Rural Economic Growth," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 83(2), pp. 352-365 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (close Pages tab). - ^ • Michael R. Carter (2008), "agricultural finance," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition.Abstract.
• Karla Hoff and Joseph E. Stiglitz (1993). "Imperfect Information and Rural Credit Markets: Puzzles and Policy Perspectives," in Karla Hoff, Avishay Braverman, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, ed., Economics of Rural Organization: Theory, Practice and Policy, ch. 2, pp. 33-52 (press +).
• Rodrigo A. Chaves and Claudio Gonzalez-Vega (1996). "The Design of Successful Rural Financial Intermediaries: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, 24(1), pp. 65-78. Abstract. - ^ • James Roumasset (2008). "population and agricultural growth," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition.
Abstract.
• David McGranahan (1999).Natural Amenities Drive Rural Population Change. Agricultural Economic Report No. (AER781) 32 pp, Description and chapter links. Archived 2009-04-03 at the Wayback Machine - ISBN 978-1-933115-65-8.Description. Archived 2008-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
• JEL classification codes#Urban, rural, and regional economics JEL: R Subcategories
• Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet (2007). "Toward a Territorial Approach to Rural Development," Journal of Agricultural and Development, 4(1), pp. 66-98. - ^ • Anthony J. Venables (2008). "New economic geography." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition.Abstract.
• France Ivry (1994). Agricultural Household Modelling and Family Economics. Elsevier. Abstract[permanent dead link]. - ^ • Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet (2008). "access to land and development," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics 2nd Edition. Abstract.
• JunJie Wu (2008). "Land Use Changes: Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, 23(4), pp. 6-10 (press +). - Joseph E. Stiglitz, ed. (1993). Economics of Rural Organization: Theory, Practice and Policy. Oxford University Press for the World Bank.(press +).
• William A. Galston and Karen Baehler (1995). Rural Development in the United States: Connecting Theory, Practice, and Possibilities. Wash., D.C.: Island Press. Description and TOC link.
• Alan Okagaki, Kris Palmer, and Neil S. Mayer (1998). Strengthening Rural Economics. Wash., D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development. Description Archived 2009-05-09 at the Wayback Machine and PDF - S2CID 234437777.
- ^ Nelson, 1969
Further reading
- "Definitions of Rural: A Handbook for Health Policy Makers and Researchers" (PDF). (6.12 MB) Thomas C. Ricketts, Karen D. Johnson-Webb, Patricia Taylor. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, 1998. 13 p.