The Rural-Urban Interface: New Patterns of Spatial Interdependence and Inequality in America

Abstract

America’s rural-urban divide seemingly has never been greater, a point reinforced by large geographic disparities in support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. But it is also the case that big cities and rural communities are more tightly integrated than ever and are increasingly interdependent, both economically and socially. This new rural-urban interface is highlighted in this collection of articles, which are organized and developed around the general concept of changing symbolic and social boundaries. Rural-urban boundaries—how rural and urban people and places are defined and evaluated—reflect and reinforce institutional forces that maintain spatial inequality and existing social, economic, and political hierarchies. This volume makes clear that rural-urban boundaries are highly fluid and that this should be better reflected in research programs, in the topics that we choose to study, and in the way that public policy is implemented.

More than a rural revolt: Landscapes of despair and the 2016 Presidential election

“…In the future, we recommend that analyses focus on the urban-rural interface. Rather than a boundary separating rural from urban, the interface is a space of intense social, economic, and environmental relationships between urban, suburban, and rural communities (Lichter and Brown 2011; Brown and Shucksmith 2017; Lichter and Ziliak 2017). An increasing share of the nation’s population and economic activity is located at the interface.…”

Rural Depopulation: Growth and Decline Processes over the Past Century

“…We have documented for the first time how net migration and natural decrease now work in demographic tandem to reinforce chronic population losses. Our study places the spotlight squarely on rural population change, which is especially important in light of widespread political backlash and growing resentment among rural voters, and newly documented evidence of growing economic and social malaise (e.g., opioids) in rural areas “left behind” in America’s increasingly urban and globalizing economy (Lichter and Ziliak ; Wuthnow ).…”

Structural discrimination and social stigma among individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses: Reentry across the rural–urban continuum

“…Although there has been a scant amount of research conducted on the role of stigma among individuals paroled outside of metropolitan areas, the findings of some theoretical and empirical work indicate potential variation in stigmatization across communities. In a large body of demographic work, for instance, the results highlight that the traditional, dichotomous conceptualizations of community have changed given the “increasing back and forth flows of capital, labor, population, information and ideas, and material goods between rural and urban America” (Lichter & Ziliak, , p. 8). As boundaries have diminished with urbanization, the social characteristics and sense of place linked with these structurally defined locations have also shifted.…”