rural development:

Definitions of ‘Rural’
Background
2.3.1 The problems of defining rural areas are more intractable than those of
defining urban areas, leading one observer to suggest that what constitutes
rurality is largely a matter of convenience (Newby, 1986). The problem lies in
capturing both the multiplicity of types of rural areas that exist (ranging, for
example, from small settlements on the fringe of large towns and cities to
remote villages and hamlets, and from ‘green belt’ agriculture to areas of
extensive arable farming), and the economic and social changes that have
taken place in rural places linking them more closely to an urban style of life and
work.
2.3.2 However, despite the conceptual problems of capturing what ‘rurality’ is,
rural areas are generally observed to have particular attributes which give them
a distinctive character. These attributes include tracts of open countryside, low
population densities, a scattering of small to medium sized settlements, less
developed transport infrastructure and lack of access to services and amenities,
especially of the type provided in larger urban centres. Each of these
characteristics has, at one time or another, been built into attempts to define
‘ rurality’ for practical purposes.
(i) Rural as ‘Not Urban’
2.3.2 In the context of definitions of ‘urban’ based upon ‘urban land use’ (i.e.
the Urban Areas approach in England and Wales and the Scottish 1981 and
1991 localities), the ‘rural’ domain can be conceived as the ‘remainder’ or all the
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land which is not defined as ‘urban’.1 This is the conception of ‘rural’ as land
which is not built on to any large extent and which is mostly ‘open’ or
‘ countryside’.
2.3.3 Such a conceptualization, though convenient and easily applied, has
serious limitations for many policy purposes. It fails to recognise the existence of
settlements with populations smaller than the arbitrary minimum set for ‘urban’
areas, it fails to recognise the functional relationship between urban areas and
smaller settlements within the surrounding countryside and it ignores those
social/economic characteristics that may be deemed to pertain to the term
‘ rural’.
2.3.4 Given these problems associated with the 'urban land residual'
approach, there have been three main types of approach to defining rural areas
in a more realistic manner: to assign some urban areas to be ‘rural’ in nature, to
classify local authority areas and/or wards on the basis of characteristics which
are deemed to identify the ‘rural’, and to identify smaller settlements on the
basis of land use characteristics other than those used in the urban areas
definition

Rural development is area development applied where demographics reflect a widely scattered population. The Network glossary definition of rural development indicates that it's the economic development (ED) effort for seeking and accommodating opportunities for non-urban areas. The effort is generally applied uniquely in an location with a decentralized laborforce. CLICK HERE if you are a rural ED representative.
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Resources List (or search for rural development resources through Network Search)

If you search for a region or rural community by name, using any resource of The Network, and do not readily find it listed, or if you do find it listed but without enough information or a link for you to contact an economic development organization, call upon us to deliver on our promise.

CLICK HERE if you have questions or comments.


Rural areas that strive for economic development should make the same best practices approach as do other locations. They should also be aware that The Network offers them free listings in this website. A free listing includes publication of a location name and a link to a file on the Web where contact information is available. Contact information in this case means regional or community representatives that are able to serve prospects as indicated in the paragraph below. CLICK HERE for details if you represent a location or have an interest seeing to it that a rural area or community of interest to you takes advantage of this free offer.


Site selectors and other enterprise developers should look for contacts as close as possible to the rural location of interest when information and/or assistance is wantedsee types of data suppliers. Pinpoint the region where the rural area or community is located and, first, try to find a an economic development organization that represents it.


A micropolitan community is one that is too urban to be called rural and too rural to be called urban. Its a location where the community mixes with the rural area that surrounds it and vice versa and that is seen locally as a small metropolitan area or the mother town in a small region. A micropolitan location is a demographic category with urban statistics but having rural or small town values and influences that can be observed and that drive its economic stability and developmentthe term is defined in the .network glossary.
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We used search engines listed in WebSee .network websearch in order to provide additional rural development resources. We looked for key word combinations using the search engines' advanced search applications. We hope the items listed below will guide you on words and phrases to use to search the Internet for rural development resources or places of interest in rural areas.

Google: rural + locations + economic + development

Yahoo: rural + community + development + data

AllTheWeb: rural + development + resources

Ixquick: rural + area + development + communities

Ask Jeeves: What is rural development?

AOL: rural + micropolitan + communities + list

MSN: site + selection + location + rural

CLICK HERE if you have questions or comments.