Conceptualising UrbanRural Linkages for Sustainable Development Bob Evans
Conceptualising Urban-Rural Linkages for Sustainable Development Bob Evans Sustainable Cities Research Institute, Northumbria University, UK 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 1
When we think ‘rural’ we tend to imagine this. . . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 2
Instead of this. . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 3
And when we think ‘urban’ we might imagine this. . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 4
Instead of this. . . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 5
Or even this. . . . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 6
We all have well established preconceptions about our cities, towns and countryside. . but: q In both social and economic terms, European urban and rural areas are inextricably intertwined and interdependent q Moreover, they have much more in common than we tend to assume. . . 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 7
Increasingly, there is little difference between urban and rural lifestyles in contemporary Europe. . . q Ferdinand. Tönnies – Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Society) q Truly rural’ is rapidly vanishing from Europe q ‘Urbs in rure’ and ‘Rures in Urbs’ 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 8
Urban growth and urbanisation 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 9
So, increasingly. . . q There are limited social differences between urban and rural localities q Urban and rural areas are economically interdependent q Urbanisation will slow and then reverse across Europe q Urban growth, suburbanisation and ‘sprawl’ will continue in the absence of containment policies or market pressure 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 10
Sustainable Development and urban rural ‘linkages’ q ‘Sustainable city’ is an oxymoron q The city can only be understood in the context of its territorial situation q Sustainable development demands a focus upon locality q Sustainability means holistic, integrated and ‘horizontal’ approaches to problems 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 11
So. . . The construct of an urban – rural dichotomy, and the notion of ‘linkage’ between the two is not a helpful way of addressing the challenge of sustainable development. But. . How do we address this challenge? 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 12
What all this implies is. . q Urban containment and densification q Integrated territorial policy approaches q Political compacts based upon territory q Government structures and governance processes to deliver the above 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 13
Bob Evans Sustainable Cities Research Institute, School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK bob 2. evans@northumbria. ac. uk www. sustainable-cities. org. uk 2/28/2021 ©Sustainable Cities Research Institute 14
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