scholarly journals Major Forces Affecting Rural Regions in 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
David Freshwater

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.

Author(s):  
G. Shankerrao

The term Rural Development is the overall development of rural areas to improve the quality of life of rural people. In India, out of total population, 83.3 crores of population living in rural areas (Census of India, 2011) and this population is characterized by mass poverty, low levels of literacy and income, high level of unemployment, and poor nutrition and health status. The rural developmental programmers intends to reduce the poverty and unemployment, to improve the health and educational status and to fulfill the basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing of the rural population. To improve the conditions of rural people, Government of India has launched various schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Rastriya Sama Vikas Yojana (RSVY), Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), etc. All these schemes are aimed to reduce the gap between rural and urban people, which would help reduce economic imbalances and speed up the development process. This article is highlights Impact, Issues and Challenges of MGNREGA on Rural Development


2021 ◽  
pp. 131-148
Author(s):  
Miloš Dimitrijević ◽  
Lela Ristić ◽  
Danijela Despotović

Integrated rural development enables linking agriculture with other economic activities whereby an adequate approach to regional development contributing to a more balanced development among regions. The aim of this research is to indicate that with the concept of integral rural development the differences between regions or rural and urban areas of Serbia could be reduced. Through the Kruskal-Wallis test for comparison of groups, the important differences were compared, where the results of research showed that they are very significant, especially between the Belgrade Region and the predominantly rural regions of Serbia. These differences can be overcome in rural areas if agriculture is more intensively linked with tertiary and secondary sectors.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Hongzhang Xu ◽  
Jamie Pittock ◽  
Katherine A. Daniell

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.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 788
Author(s):  
Weiming Tong ◽  
Kevin Lo

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleh Ahmed ◽  
Elizabeth Eklund

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh

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.


Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh

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.


The EU funds are an important factor in the development process of any new member state of the European Union. As such, EU funds support modernization and help facilitate further economic development in a member state, including its rural regions. The Republic of Croatia, based on NUTS3 classification, is predominantly rural with 79.01% of its territory being rural and 56.07% of population living in rural areas. Therefore, rural development is an integral part of overall economic development of the country. In order to improve competitiveness of Croatian agriculture sector, especially its small family farms, it is crucial to invest in their means of production and modernization of their assets. Funds awarded within the EAFRD framework in The Republic of Croatia tend to facilitate this process and further aid rural development. Croatian Development Index has a very important role in allocation of before mentioned funds. Its values are taken as criteria for state-aided areas, scoring projects (including EAFRD and other EU funds applications) and other aspects of public development policies. As one of the primary goals of Rural Development Programme in the Republic of Croatia, it is especially important to achieve a more balanced territorial development of rural areas given the fact that Croatian rural regions (counties and municipalities) are not equally developed, ensuring job creation and job retention in the process. The existence of disparities in the level of development is not a characteristic that can be found only in the Republic of Croatia, but it is an issue that should be taken into account when devising or reconsidering criteria for allocation of future EU funds in the Republic of Croatia, in order to further reduce regional disparities in the level of development. The aim of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on associations between the indicators of Croatian Development Index and spatial distribution of EU funds awarded within the Rural Development programme in The Republic of Croatia based on available data for the most recent invitation to tender for EAFRD funds.


Author(s):  
Jakub Straka ◽  
Marcela Tuzová

Rural development is a topic that is frequently discussed, but there is no consensus on how to measure it. Various criteria exist such as economic, social, cultural or environmental, which can be used to assess rural development. Therefore the main question addressed in this paper is to identify what factors and indicators are suitable for scrutinizing development of rural areas under the conditions of the Czech Republic. For this purpose, articles focused on Czech rural regions were analysed. Fourteen most frequently used indicators were identified based on the comprehensive analysis of the selected Czech studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nieto Masot ◽  
Alonso ◽  
Moreno

Since the end of the last century, the Rural Development Policy and the associated Rural Development Aid have been implemented (according to the LEADER Approach) in European rural areas as a model of endogenous, integrated, and innovative development. Its objective is to reduce the differences of development in these areas. The objective of this paper is to analyze statistically (using Principal Component Analysis) the investments and projects carried out during the period of 2007–2013 in the regions of Extremadura and Alentejo. These two border regions have many territorial similarities but also historical, cultural, and political differences. These variations may contribute to a different implementation of the LEADER Approach. As determined by the results from the statistical analysis of economic aids and demographic variables, it is evident that there are differences in the management of the Rural Development Aid in both territories but resemblances in the results.


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