scholarly journals Smart Villages: Comprehensive Review of Initiatives and Practices

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Eu Policies

Over the recent decades people’s (rural and urban) communities are facing numerous social and economic changes and challenges. Some of those challenges have been increasingly addressed through the lenses of technological developments and digitalization. In this paper we have made a review of already existing practices while focusing on the existing implementations of the smart village concept and the importance of digital transformation for rural areas. We give special attention to EU policies which we are using as an already existing framework for understanding our own forthcoming examples. We have shown the parallels between the findings and insights from different regions and made an evaluation of presented practices. Our main argument stems from our own previous experiences and experiences of other research approaches, and is grounded on the argument that rural areas are not uniform, and that smart rural development has to be applied in combination with place-based approach. We present the cases of Slovenian pilot practices and support our argument by proposing the FabVillage concept.

scholarly journals Smart Villages: Comprehensive Review of Initiatives and Practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Eu Policies

Over recent decades, people’s (rural and urban) communities are facing numerous social and economic changes and challenges. Some of those challenges have been increasingly addressed through the lenses of technological developments and digitalization. In this paper, we have made a review of already existing practices while focusing on the existing implementations of the Smart Village concept and the importance of digital transformation for rural areas. We give special attention to EU policies that we are using as an already existing framework for understanding our own forthcoming examples. We have shown the parallels between the findings and insights from different regions and made an evaluation of presented practices. Our main argument stems from our own previous experiences and experiences of other research approaches, and is grounded on the argument that rural areas are not uniform, and that smart rural development has to be applied in combination with place-based approach. We present the cases of Slovenian pilot practices and support our argument by proposing the FabVillage concept.

scholarly journals ROMANIAN SMALL TOWNS SEARCHING FOR THEIR IDENTITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela ZAMFIR ◽  
Cristian TĂLÂNGĂ ◽  
Ilinca Valentina STOICA
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
Rural Character ◽  
The One

Romanian small towns - urban settlements of less than 20000 inhabitants, having a polarizing function with respect to the socio-economic activities in the deeply rural areas - are considered an interface between rural and urban communities. Determining the identity of small towns is rather difficult, because complex and varied political, social and economic changes occurred in the previous century. Thus, three distinct phases have been established: before 1950 the towns had a rather strong rural character; in 1950-1989 their identity was completely changed under the communist regime; after that, they somehow re gained their initial identity (the one before 1950), or promoted it at higher levels. There is a discrepancy between the present stage and that before 1989: the previous identity was conventional and constrained whereas today it develops in a natural process conditioned only by the town itself and by the choice of its inhabitants.

scholarly journals ROMANIAN SMALL TOWNS SEARCHING FOR THEIR IDENTITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela ZAMFIR ◽  
Cristian TĂLÂNGĂ ◽  
Valentina STOICA
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
Rural Character ◽  
The One

Romanian small towns - urban settlements of less than 20000 inhabitants, having a polarizing function with respect to the socio-economic activities in the deeply rural areas - are considered an interface between rural and urban communities. Determining the identity of small towns is rather difficult, because complex and varied political, social and economic changes occurred in the previous century. Thus, three distinct phases have been established: before 1950 the towns had a rather strong rural character; in 1950-1989 their identity was completely changed under the communist regime; after that, they somehow re gained their initial identity (the one before 1950), or promoted it at higher levels. There is a discrepancy between the present stage and that before 1989: the previous identity was conventional and constrained whereas today it develops in a natural process conditioned only by the town itself and by the choice of its inhabitants.

scholarly journals China: A New Trajectory Prioritizing Rural Rather Than Urban Development?

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Hongzhang Xu ◽  
Jamie Pittock ◽  
Katherine A. Daniell
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
National Development ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Global Concern

The adverse effects of rapid urbanization are of global concern. Careful planning for and accommodation of accelerating urbanization and citizenization (i.e., migrants gaining official urban residency) may be the best approach to limit some of the worst impacts. However, we find that another trajectory may be possible: one linked to the rural development plan adopted in the latest Chinese national development strategy. This plan aims to build rural areas as attractive areas for settlement by 2050 rather than to further urbanize with more people in cities. We assess the political motivations and challenges behind this choice to develop rural areas based on a literature review and empirical case analysis. After assessing the rural and urban policy subsystem, we find five socio-political drivers behind China’s rural development strategy, namely ensuring food security, promoting culture and heritage, addressing overcapacity, emphasizing environmental protection and eradicating poverty. To develop rural areas, China needs to effectively resolve three dilemmas: (1) implementing decentralized policies under central supervision; (2) deploying limited resources efficiently to achieve targets; and (3) addressing competing narratives in current policies. Involving more rural community voices, adopting multiple forms of local governance, and identifying and mitigating negative project impacts can be the starting points to manage these dilemmas.

scholarly journals Back to the Countryside: Rural Development and the Spatial Patterns of Population Migration in Zhejiang, China

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 788
Author(s):  
Weiming Tong ◽  
Kevin Lo
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Return Migration ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Population Migration ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Level Data

This study examines how rural development in China shapes new trends in population migration. Using first-hand, village-level data from Zhejiang—an economically developed province in China—we investigated the patterns and influencing factors of population migration between rural and urban areas. We conceptualized three types of migration in rural areas: rural out-migration, rural in-migration, and rural return-migration. First-hand data were collected from 347 villages. The results show that although rural out-migration remains the dominant form of migration, rural in-migration and return-migration are also common, and the latter two are positively correlated. Further, we found evidence to support the conclusion that rural economic, social, and spatial development encourages rural in-migration and return-migration but does not have a significant impact on rural out-migration. Therefore, it is foreseeable that rural in-migration and return-migration will become increasingly common in China.

scholarly journals Major Forces Affecting Rural Regions in 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
David Freshwater
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Political Differences ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Urban People

Rural regions in OECD countries have always faced development challenges, resulting from their: reliance on natural resources, small labour forces, and long distances from markets, as well as the effects of globalization. Now, in addition, their development opportunities are further constrained by: climate change requirements, increased economic fragility resulting from COVID and the lingering effects of the 2008 recession, and the uneven impacts of the Internet economy. But, from a rural development policy perspective, perhaps the most important new challenge is the rise of rural populism. While rural areas and people have long been seen as distinct from their urban counterparts, in the last two decades these gaps have grown. Importantly, while the internet and information and communications technology (ICT) were initially seen as providing opportunities to improve social cohesion and link rural and urban people and places, instead they seem to have increased tensions. Because the core values of urban and rural people have grown so far apart, it is more difficult to establish the political compromises that are required to form effective policy. Absent some reconciliation of these social and political differences, it is difficult to see how national government policy can evolve to meet new challenges. Consequently, the likelihood of national governments being able to identify and implement coherent rural development policies is reduced.

Airbnb Contribution to Rural Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Abbas Strømmen-Bakhtiar ◽  
Evgueni Vinogradov ◽  
Marit Kristin Kvarum ◽  
Kristian Rydland Antonsen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Urban Bias ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
The One

The technological developments described in terms of industrial revolutions or disruptive innovations have been shaping economic and social life in rural areas. The global trend towards urbanization presents a major challenge to rural communities. The aim of this article is to study how the peer-to-peer economy influences rural municipalities. On the one hand, in the literature, it is argued that sharing economy may improve accessibility, encourage mobility, attract investments and reduce urban bias. On the other hand, both academics and practitioners are aware of the disruptive effects of sharing economy on e.g., local real estate and labor markets. This qualitative study is based on empirical data from a municipality on the Lofoten Islands of Norway. The results demonstrate that Airbnb has some positive and some negative effects on rural development, but the magnitudes of these effects are modest. Of positive effects, the authors can mention increased local tourism, stimulation of conservation/restoration of traditional houses, and increased recreational mobility for rural residents.

scholarly journals Rural Accessibility, Rural Development, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleh Ahmed ◽  
Elizabeth Eklund
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
National Development ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Social And Economic Development

Rural accessibility means more than just reliable roads and cost-effective transportation networks. Rural accessibility is critical for achieving social and economic development in low-income developing countries such as Bangladesh where both rural and urban development are constrained by significant infrastructural deficiencies. It is also an important factor that determines the effects of natural disasters on these resource-constrained societies, since both disaster responses and sustainable development are compromised by poor rural accessibility. Using two contrasting case studies from Bangladesh, this article reveals the significance of improved rural accessibility on rural development and the effects of natural disasters on rural areas. The findings of this article suggest that the improvement of rural accessibility should be a top national development priority, since it increases the opportunities for sustainable social and economic development and reduces the adverse effects of natural disasters on the rural areas in developing countries such as Bangladesh.

scholarly journals Community stakeholders' perceptions of crime and victimization: A mixed-methods approach to understanding collective efficacy and social cohesion in the rural heartland

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115
Author(s):  
Ashley Lockwood ◽  
April Terry
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Neighborhoods ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Rural And Urban

Previous criminological literature has mostly neglected rural communities, often treating these places as smaller pieces of urban culture. Literature suggests rural communities operate differently than urban neighborhoods, with distinctive values, norms, and community cohesion. For example, concepts surrounding collective efficacy may work counterproductively in rural areas—further exploiting outed community members within "close-knit" environments. The current study sought to compare perceptions of collective efficacy and social cohesion, crime, and victimization between rural and urban counties across one Midwestern rural state. Using a mixed-methods approach, community stakeholders from a variety of professions were surveyed. Quantitative results suggest similar perceptions of collective efficacy and social cohesion in rural and urban communities while qualitative responses paint a much different picture—an image of rural communities "minding their own business" and both formally and informally intervening only in the most extreme and personalized scenarios.

scholarly journals Rural Socio-Economic Development through Tourism in Bangladesh: Ways and Means

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23
Author(s):  
Gopal Chandra Saha
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Rural Tourism ◽  
Rural Environment ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
The Government ◽  
Negative Impacts

This study endeavors to test the effect of promoting of rural tourism in Bangladesh. Rural tourism can offer assistance in forming our society. It can have both positive and negative impacts on rural as well as urban communities. There's a scope of rural tourism in Bangladesh. The government ought to empower private enterprises to advance tourism in rural areas. For creating the rural tourism we ought to get it the rural environment, demography, socio-culture, financial and political foundation of that put. How we will include the country individuals to improve their socio-economic condition. To create a key promoting arranges for rural tourism we ought to get it the target customer, their needs and how to coordinate it with our rural framework. Rural tourism can create a win-win circumstance for both the rural and urban communities.

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