Natural amenities and rural development in new urban‐rural spaces

Abstract

Diverse scholars recognize that urban and rural areas have becomes increasingly blurred in function and form. Amenity‐rich areas have experienced high levels of population and employment growth in North America. At the same time, rural populations have had to adjust to economic restructuring by trying to capture benefits from amenity‐led development and/or commuting to urban areas for employment. We use the concept of urban‐rural space to review dynamic processes that are altering rural areas, integrating them with larger urban places, and creating both challenges and opportunities for rural areas that were formerly dependent on agriculture, mining, and other forms of primary activities. To examine trends in urban‐rural places, we present the case of southeast Ohio, an area of the Appalachian foothills undergoing increasing urban influence from the growing state capital, Columbus. The dynamics of this area yield insights that may be informative to policy making in other rural areas undergoing similar transitions in the modern economy. Resumen. Una serie de expertos opinan que el concepto de áreas urbanas y rurales es cada vez más difuso en cuanto a su forma y función. Las áreas de Norteamérica con una abundancia de servicios han experimentado niveles de crecimiento de la población y el empleo elevados. Al mismo tiempo, las poblaciones rurales han tenido que someterse a una reestructuración económica a fin de atraer los beneficios derivados de un desarrollo basado en los servicios y/o desplazarse a diario a las áreas urbanas en busca de empleo. El concepto de áreas urbano‐rurales se emplea aquí en una revisión de los procesos dinámicos que están cambiando las zonas rurales, integrándolas dentro de espacios urbanos más grandes y creando retos y oportunidades para unas áreas rurales que hasta hace poco dependían de la agricultura, la minería y otras actividades primarias. A fin de examinar las tendencias de las áreas urbano‐rurales, presentamos el caso del sudeste de Ohio, un área del piedemonte de los Apalaches que está experimentando una influencia urbana cada vez mayor debido a la expansión de Columbus, la capital del estado. Las dinámicas de esta zona aportan información que podría ser de ayuda en la formulación de políticas en otras áreas rurales que estén experimentando transiciones similares dentro de la economía moderna.

21st century economic development: Telework and its impact on local income

“…This strategy is not only more aligned to the digital age, but also provides opportunities to rural communities that traditionally lack density of workers and customers, and have struggled to recruit industry. Rural communities continue to become more integrated into urban areas (Irwin, Isserman, Kilkenny, & Partridge, ; Olson & Munroe, ), and encouraging telework may allow rural areas to effectively grow local opportunities for work while continuing to promote their historical advantages (natural amenities, housing costs).…”

A New Spatial Criteria Method to Delimit Rural Settlements towards Boundaries Equity: Land Use Optimization for Decision Making in Galicia, NW Spain

“…Against this background, the rural concept is inherently spatial as the space to be understood more broadly [72], and the immaterial context [73] is also representative of rural space, in addition to primary activities such as the main economic production of rural space [74]. However, it should also be noted that the concept of rural and urban areas is increasingly unclear in terms of form and function [75]. For the purposes of this research, this rural conceptualization is related to the study area of Galicia, since it coincides with the economic activities in the spatial production of rural places, as well as a certain intangibility that is necessary to quantify, according to this new spatial approach that is proposed to delimit the rural settlements.…”

Anchoring Urban Development: Globalisation, Attractiveness and Complexity

“…Nowadays, most regions are affected by the demand of mobile consumers, which include not only tourists but also new residents, students, annuitants and anyone else spending income generated elsewhere. This demand is sensitive to prices, of course, but also to tangible and intangible local amenities (both urban and environmental) (Olson and Munroe, 2012). Insofar as basic services (both residential and touristic) are relatively standardised across Western cities and regions (Judd and Fainstein, 1999), response to this demand is all the more important in enabling a place to differentiate itself from other places.…”