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More than Counter-urbanisation: Migration to Popular and Less-popular Rural Areas in the Netherlands
Population, Space and Place
Abstract
Migration into rural areas in Western countries is often explained by the pull of the rural idyll for urban, middle-class migrants. Although previous research has shown that this counter-urbanisation model is insufficient to explain rural immigration in sparsely populated countries, this paper shows that also within core regions, more diverse conceptualisations of migration into rural areas are required. This is achieved by distinguishing popular, average, and less-popular rural living areas in the northern Netherlands, on the basis of average house prices, and by analysing the migration flows to these areas. Data from Housing Research of the Netherlands demonstrate that popular rural areas attract more highly educated people and people moving from urban areas compared with less-popular and average rural areas. For movers to less-popular areas, being near to family and friends is more important. The characteristics of the movers to popular rural areas fit very well with the counter-urbanisation story. Less-popular rural areas in the Netherlands share personal reasons as an important motivation for in-migration with more remote rural areas in Europe. This indicates that conceptualisations of periphery and remoteness have to be considered within the local, regional, and national context. Research into rural population change in both core regions and sparsely populated countries should consider these different contexts to be able to acknowledge the variety in the way amenities and peripherality are perceived by different groups of people. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... The county serves as the fundamental unit in county urbanization, promoting the harmonious development of both urban and rural regions. It can form a buffer zone in rural-urban migration, thus avoiding a series of challenges, such as the massive and rapid growth of the urban population, lagging infrastructure development, and imbalanced industrial development [1]. As the new urbanization in counties continues to evolve, the demand for production and living materials by urban residents and industrial and commercial enterprises will expand. ...
... x (1) ...
... x (0) (t) =x (1) ...
New urbanization in counties and the logistics industry are closely related and are essential in promoting regional economic and social development. There are specific challenges and obstacles to revealing the interaction mechanism and system state measurement between the two. This paper explains the two coupling mechanisms and constructs the evaluation index system. It proposes a new analysis method based on the coupling coordination degree model, the spatio-temporal evolution analysis, and the grey prediction model. The goal is to learn more about and fully realize the coordinated development mechanisms of the two. It then uses the Hebei province of China as an example to empirically analyze its systematic cross-sectional data from 2013 to 2022. Research findings: (1) In Hebei province, the new urbanization in counties and the logistics industry have a systematic coupling relationship. However, the logistics industry’s comprehensive development level is relatively lagging. The two systems have been at a high-level coupling stage for the last decade and maintain a high coupling status. The coupling coordination has shown significant improvement. (2) Although the geographical distribution of the coupling and coordination degree of the new urbanization in counties and logistics industry system has short-term volatility, it is still stable in the long term and presents economic-related spatial characteristics. (3) Over the next five years, the coupling coordination of 11 cities in Hebei province will steadily grow. There will be greater harmonization between the two systems. (4) From the analysis results, the evaluation index system of the coupled system constructed is scientific and reasonable. The analysis method can not only measure the system’s coupling degree, but it can also predict the development trend and analyze the spatial evolution. The technique has novelty and validity, which can be used as a reference for analyzing and making decisions about similar systems.
... Scott et al., 2017), reflecting how return migration can be part of counterurban migration. By exploring counterurban migration flows directed at childhood areas, this study can contribute to nuancing the understanding of return migration in relation to counterurbanisation and add to a growing body of literature on counterurban migration (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Grimsrud, 2011;Karsten, 2020;Stockdale, 2016;Stockdale & Catney, 2014). ...
... She finds that as many as 70% of movers to rural areas in Norway state that they moved to a municipality where they or their partner grew up. Bijker and Haartsen (2012) found that many counterurban movers stated instrumental reasons, related to work and social motivations, for moving to rural areas. In their study, they also distinguish between different kinds of rural areas, with more mainstream counterurban motives being more prevalent among movers to more 'popular' rural areas and nearness to family being more important among movers to less popular areas. ...
... This is especially true for those moving to small towns and rural areas, where the share of returning families among in-migrants is the highest. In line with the study by Bijker and Haartsen (2012), we also find that the counterurban moves that are not related to return migration to a greater extent involve a choice of more attractive rural areas (i.e. within commuting distance to bigger cities or with a tourism industry profile). ...
This paper examines counterurban migration among young families with children in Sweden and the extent to which these moves reflect return migration, recognising the role of family members and family roots at the destination from a life course perspective. Drawing on register data for all young families with children leaving the Swedish metropolitan areas during the years 2003–2013, we analyse the pattern of counterurban moves and explore how the families’ socioeconomic characteristics, childhood origins, and links to family networks are associated with becoming a counterurban mover and choice of destination. The results show that four out of ten counterurban movers are former urban movers who choose to return to their home region. Among them, almost all have family at the destination, indicating that family ties are important for counterurban migration. In general, urban residents with a background outside metropolitan areas are much more likely to become counterurban movers. Families’ previous residential experiences during childhood, particularly in rural areas, are found to be associated with the residential environment they choose to resettle in when leaving the big city. Counterurban movers making a return move are similar to other counterurban movers in relation to employment status, but tend to be better off economically and move longer distances than other counterurban movers.
... Therefore, improving the competitiveness of villages, building livable villages, and achieving sustainable and high-quality rural development have gradually become a focus for politicians and researchers in China and abroad [3,4]. While developed countries in the West started to pay attention to sustainable rural development relatively early and have more mature research frameworks and methods, research on sustainable rural development in developing countries needs to be strengthened [5][6][7][8]. ...
... Social problems in developed countries primarily exist in cities, while social problems in developing countries mainly exist in rural areas. This is an important difference between eastern and western cultures and is a concrete manifestation of the global development imbalance problem [6]. At present, rural development worldwide faces many challenges [2], including rural poverty and environmental degradation. ...
At present, the focus of global attention is on implementing rural revitalization strategies. However, constructing a set of scientifically based evaluation indexes for the evaluation of the effectiveness of rural revitalization implementation, exploring the implementation plan for rural revitalization, has become a common concern and a focus of discussion in political and academic circles. This study used a typical rural revitalization demonstration area in China as an example. We proposed a theoretical framework for rural revitalization research and constructed an index evaluation system for the evaluation of the effectiveness of rural revitalization implementation and influencing factors from two perspectives: material life and spiritual life. The results were as follows: Differences were found in the implementation effectiveness of rural revitalization strategies in the study area; especially, in areas with obvious rural cultural characteristics, their implementation level was relatively high. The implementation effectiveness of rural revitalization strategies was the result of multi-factor interactions. The village greening rate, innovation ability, and the age of village supporters were the main factors affecting rural revitalization, and the interaction effects of a village’s innovation ability and other factors were significant. Therefore, we argue that in the process of promoting the sustainable development of villages, it is necessary to prominent the characteristics of village construction and improve the effectiveness of the implementation of village revitalization strategies at both the material and spiritual levels.
... Early research about urban-to-rural migration has been focused on the earliest urbanised Western countries (Berry 1976(Berry , 1980 but today, also in developing contexts such as the African continent, 'forces of economic and social change' are often charged with restructuring rural areas and transforming them into urban ones (Rigg 2016). In the Global North in general, urban-to-rural migration usually appears as an idealised return to the countryside or the 'gentrification' of the 'Global Rural' (Nelson and Nelson 2010), an 'idyllic' life and a matter of lifestyle choices (Bijker and Haartsen 2012;Stockdale and Catney 2014). But urban-to rural migration research became 'somewhat academically stagnant' in general (Halfacree 2008, 482). ...
... The concentration of the urban analysis in capital cities and well-established cities in Africa may be due to the fact that Africa in general has for long been kept away from investigations about urban dynamics (Pieterse 2008), despite the diversity in the continent and the multiple processes of urbanisation (Robinson 2016). Consequently, in cases where the urban-to-rural migration is addressed, the main concerns end up being the demographics, both in Africa (Costello 2007(Costello , 2009Grant 2015;Beauchemin 2011;Geyer and Geyer 2015;Potts 1995Potts , 2009Bryceson and Potts 2006) and elsewhere (Champion 1989;Ma 2001;Costello 2009;Bijker and Haartsen 2012;Halfacree 2012). While important to contextualise the main trends, the demographic approach is limited in many aspects. ...
This article discusses migration to rural areas in Africa and its relation to the emergence and development of new towns and urbanism. New conditions of mobility and the establishment and development of newly urban and proto-urban areas call for a reassessment of mobility and settlement dynamics. Changing contexts of urban-rural relations with important societal implications, new transformations and reconfigurations of urban forms call for analyses beyond rural exoduses, unequal territorial development, or the primacy of major cities. In Angola, urban construction, namely of the new ‘centralidades’—emergent new cities made of blocks of buildings and respective infrastructure in vacant areas in the countryside—attempts the creation of cities before the agglomeration of population or the undertakings to attract migration, other than just housing. This intentional urbanisation is thus characterised by hesitant settlement, which this article analyses using empirical material collected in a variety of Angolan centralidades.
... Σύμφωνα με τις διεξαχθείσες έρευνες, οι εσωτερικοί μετανάστες είναι άτομα που ανήκουν κυρίως στη μεσαία τάξη, δυσαρεστημένοι από τον αστικό τρόπο ζωής. Μετακινούνται στον ύπαιθρο χώρο για να ζήσουν μια ειδυλλιακή ζωή και να εκπληρώσουν το όνειρό τους για διαβίωση σε ένα πιο φυσικό τρόπο ζωής (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012). Ωστόσο, «στην περίπτωση της Ελλάδας η υπαιθριακότητα (το ανήκειν στον κόσμο της υπαίθρου) είναι ισχυρότερη του υπαιθριωτισμού (ειδυλλιακότητα της ζωής στην ύπαιθρο)» (Ανθοπούλου και Γούσιος, 2007:254). ...
... Δείκτης 1 = Δείκτης Έντασης «Επιστροφής στην Ύπαιθρο» = Εισροές i / Πληθυσμός Αναφοράς i Όπου i = 1,2,...1034 Δημοτικές Ενότητες (β) Δείκτες Κυρίαρχης Προέλευσης Οι εμπειρικές αναλύσεις της εσωτερικής μετανάστευσης συχνά υποεκτιμούν τη σπουδαιότητα της σύνδεσης της «υπαίθρου» (ως μεταναστευτικό προορισμό) με την κυρίαρχη προέλευση των νέων κατοίκων της (Stockdale, 2015), ενώ τα κλασικά μεταναστευτικά μοτίβα της αποαστικοποίησης δεν αντικατοπτρίζουν με ακρίβεια την πολυπλοκότητα του φαινομένου (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012). ...
Οι τελευταίες δεκαετίες σηματοδότησαν σημαντικές αλλαγές στα πληθυσμιακά μας
δρώμενα. Η μαζική εισροή οικονομικών μεταναστών της περιόδου 1990-2000
περιορίσθηκε αισθητά, ενώ νέα μεταναστευτικά ρεύματα αναδύονται (προσφυγική κρίση, μετανάστευση νέων σε αναζήτηση εργασίας σε άλλες χώρες). Η εσωτερική μετανάστευση ατονεί, ενώ αντιθέτως η χωρίς αλλαγή της μόνιμης κατοικίας συνδεδεμένη με την εργασία κινητικότητα αυξάνεται και ταυτόχρονα τάσεις απο-αστικοποίησης αναδύονται, και, πιθανότατα εντείνονται στη διάρκεια της οικονομικής κρίσης. Αυξάνεται σε σχέση με το παρελθόν επαγωγή των μεταναστευτικών εισροών εθνο-πολιτισμική σύνθεση του πληθυσμού μας, ιδιαίτερα των δυο μητροπολιτικών περιοχών της χώρας μας, ενώ ταυτόχρονα οι δραστηριότητες των οικονομικών μεταναστών διευρύνονται. Οι πρόσφατες προσφυγικές ροές έχουν σημαντικές επιπτώσεις στην καθημερινότητα των τόπων υποδοχής ενώ η εγκατάσταση στη χώρα μας νέων αλλοδαπών μετά το 1990 επιβραδύνει, χωρίς όμως να ανακόπτει, τη δημογραφική γήρανση του πληθυσμού μας. Ταυτόχρονα, η «γήρανση μέσα στη γήρανση» επιταχύνεται καθώς το πλήθος και το ειδικό βάρος όσων
έχουν ξεπεράσει το μέσο όρο ζωής (τα 80 έτη) αυξάνεται πολύ ταχύτερα από αυτό των 65
ετών και άνω και η αναπαραγωγή του πληθυσμού μας μας προβληματίζει όλο και
περισσότερο καθώς γεννήσεις και γονιμότητα συρρικνώνονται συνεχώς, ενώ ταυτόχρονα οι ρυθμοί της αύξησης της προσδοκώμενης ζωής μας επιβραδύνονται προοδευτικά.
Η εξέταση της χωρικής διάστασης των προαναφερθεισών σημαντικών
πληθυσμιακών αλλαγών σε εθνικό επίπεδο συγκεντρώνει στη χώρα μας, σε αντίθεση με το παρελθόν, όλο και μεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον καθώς έχει συνειδητοποιηθεί πλέον η αναγκαιότητα διερεύνησης των διαφοροποιήσεων που υποκρύπτονται συχνότατα κάτω από τους εθνικούς μέσους όρους. Ταυτόχρονα, όλο και περισσότερο, αναδεικνύεται και η αναγκαιότητα της μη μονο-επιστημονικής προσέγγισης στη μελέτη των αλλαγών αυτών.
Τα άρθρα που περιλαμβάνονται στο θεματικό αυτό τεύχος, σε μικρότερο ή
μεγαλύτερο βαθμό, πληρούν τις δυο αυτές προϋποθέσεις. Το τεύχος συγκεντρώνει κείμενα ερευνητών οι οποίοι, από διαφορετικές οπτικές γωνιές εξετάζουν κυρίως θέματα που άπτονται της κινητικότητας στο εσωτερικό της χώρας μας («Η επιστροφή στην Ύπαιθρο στην Ελλάδα μετά το 2000», «Η καθημερινή κινητικότητα των απασχολούμενων στην Ελλάδα»), των δυο διαδοχικών μεταναστευτικών ρευμάτων («Η οικονομική και επιχειρηματική δραστηριότητα των μεταναστών στην περιοχή της Αττικής» , «Μεταναστευτικές και Προσφυγικές Ροές στην Λέσβο»), των πρόσφατων εξελίξεων της αναπαραγωγής του πληθυσμού μας («Η συγχρονική γονιμότητα στην Ελλάδα κατά τα πρώτα χρόνια του 21ου αιώνα»), ή ακόμη της γήρανσης μέσα στη γήρανση («Η εξέλιξη των τύπων διαβίωσης των ηλικιωμένων 80 ετών και άνω στην Ελλάδα»). Δυο άρθρα διαφοροποιούνται εν μέρει της πρότερης θεματολογίας. Το πρώτο («Μετανάστευση και Εθνοπολιτισμική «Ποικιλότητα» των Ευρωπαϊκών Πόλεων» αμφισβητεί την εγκυρότητα της θέσης ότι η Εθνοπολιτισμική «Ποικιλότητα» των ευρωπαϊκών πόλεων σήμερα είναι πιο σημαντική από ποτέ, ενώ το δεύτερο («Γεωγραφία των Κόμβων και Πληθυσμός») παρουσιάζει έναν εναλλακτικό τρόπο μοντελοποίησης του χώρου διερευνώντας - μεταξύ άλλων -, τις δυνατότητες εκτίμησης του πληθυσμού και της κατανομής του στην Ελλάδα με την χρήση των Γεωγραφικών Συστημάτων Πληροφοριών .
Ως επιμελητές θα θέλαμε τέλος να ευχαριστήσουμε όλους όσους συνέβαλαν στο
τεύχος αυτό και ιδιαίτερα τους συγγραφείς και τους κριτές των κειμένων που
συμπεριλαμβάνει
... Few studies directly address the fact that young students primarily move to certain cities and that there are winners and losers among the largest cities with consequent territorial stigmatisation (Christensen and Nielsen, 2013). Bijker and Haartsen (2011) investigate the popularity and representation of rural areas, but their study is conducted on a smaller scale and compares a region's internal movements that are not specifically related to students. Bijker et al. (2015) nevertheless emphasise that an area's perceived social characteristics affect the choice of a place of residence and that some areas are excluded because of their general social perception. ...
... They had a positive experience because of their housing situation, the reception from their educational institutions, the welcome package from the municipality and 'Study in the City of Esbjerg' events. Regarding the experience of moving against the tide, a reference can be made to the Dutch literature on moving to less popular rural areas (Bijker and Haartsen, 2011), which, for most people, are not their first choice of location because of certain perceived social characteristics (Bijker et al., 2015). Many of the interviewees chose education before city and thus bypassed the value that individual places are assigned. ...
A country’s internal migration is often explained using a life-course perspective. When a new academic year begins, study cities hope to attract a good portion of new students. In Denmark, the major trend is that young people leave the western part of the country to study in larger cities in the eastern part. This paper examines a much less extensive reverse flow of students who move to Esbjerg in western Denmark to study. Using interviews with 30 students, this paper analyses how this counter-movement is experienced by young students themselves and perceived by their friends. Based on the literature on the transformation of places and regional representation and attractiveness, this study shows the concurrent presence of opposing trends. On the one hand, the interviewees describe Esbjerg as a great town with friendly people, good study opportunities, etc.; i.e. they experience the city positively. On the other hand, their friends disagree and criticize Esbjerg without having much substantive knowledge on which to base their negative perceptions. These findings are discussed in relation to value attached to places, views on the size of towns connected to life modes among students, and opportunities for places to transform their identity.
... Another known limitation in the quantification of migration is that migratory flows vary greatly depending on the particular rural community, so some sort of sensible choice has to be made to parameterize the model. In this study, we use data from different papers (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012;Champion and Shepherd, 2006;McGranahan, 2008;Milbourne, 2007) and rural communities in Spain to build ne x functions. These functions are consistent with rural migration flows described in Pinilla et al. (2008). ...
... It may be reasonable to suppose that there is a shortage in the provision of healthcare servicesfor example, when there is a population decline that makes a primary health service unsustainable. However, although senior groups adopt extreme values in the majority of cases, they will have limited impact on the migration process because seniors tend to move out less than other groups (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012). ...
Uncertainties and non-linearities between processes involved in rural dynamics pose a challenge to planners and policymakers. Numerical models minimize the risk of making an inappropriate decision and assist planners with making informed policy decisions. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of the social, economic and demographic dimensions of rural dynamics using a system dynamics approach. The resulting model (RUSEM: RUral Socio-Economic Model) consists of four main modules that reproduce the main characteristics of the rural areas, with a focus for the European case. The economic module contains the most important variables in the dynamics of local economies - for example, the provision of key services, the availability of public services, and local economic structure. The social and demographic modules use large age groups to analyse the labour market and population dynamics. The attractiveness module summarises push-pull factors affecting rural migration. The model is used to evaluate thirty-six socio-economic scenarios of rural Spain. The results show that very small villages could be incapable to stop rural decline because the absence of “critical mass” while mid-sized villages require targeted actions to reinforce the positive feedbacks of local economy. RUSEM has two goals: to offer computational support enabling robust decision-making in policy formulation in conditions of deep uncertainty and to integrate the socio-economic dimension into Earth System Models (ESMs) providing a numerical model that can be embedded into ESMs at a relatively cheap computational cost.
... Using parcel area as a key variable, processes such as diffusion-limited aggregation may effectively inform (and refine) the quantitative analysis of metropolitan growth (Fotheringham et al. 1989). Viewing settlement form as associated with demographic trends, rural-urban migration, and radial expansion (Bijker and Haartsen 2012), earlier studies have shown regional patterns, such as negative density gradients and structured chaos, to be tightly linked to economic cycles (Akkerman 1992). ...
With settlement morphology increasingly tied with socioeconomic change in contemporary urban systems, the present study introduces an original statistical approach to analyze metropolitan growth as a result of the intrinsic transformations in the respective spatial structure and productive functions. The analysis specifically evaluates territorial transformations over a thirty-year time interval using land-use parcels as fundamental analysis’ unit and Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regressions (MGWRs) as the statistical technique applied to metropolitan Athens, Greece—a densely populated region facing intensified human pressure along the fringe. To investigate spatial direction and model the intensity of settlement expansion vis à vis landscape change, we run local regressions with parcel area and fractal index as dependent variables separately for 1990 and 2018 on three aggregate land-use classes (urbanized, agricultural, forest/natural). Elevation, distance from selected economic nodes, infrastructures and services, distance from the city center and business district, as well as the economic status of the territory surrounding each parcel, were taken as predictors of both dependent variables. In a strictly mono-centric setting, parcel area exhibited linear dependence on the distance from city centers; a progressive departure from this relationship intensified with economic and non-economic drivers indicating urban sprawl. This approach—integrating economic and ecological dimensions of landscape analysis—helps elucidate the underlying mechanisms of metropolitan expansion within dynamic spatial equilibriums and concentric land-use models à la Von Thunen. Ultimately, the study presents new perspectives on the factors behind metropolitan growth, highlighting the need for socio-demographic and planning policies oriented toward sustainability and regional competitiveness. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear on-line.
... Counter-urban migration, defined as the flow of individuals from large cities and metropolitan areas to suburban, peri-urban, and rural areas, has been subject to fluctuating patterns influenced by various economic and social factors (Andersen, Møller-Jensen, andEngelstoft 2011, 2022;Bijker and Haartsen 2012;Halfacree 2008Halfacree , 2012Javakhishvili-Larsen and Andersen 2025). In Denmark, for instance, the early 2000s saw a wave of counter-urban migration driven by rising urban living costs (Andersen and Winther 2010;Remoundou, Gkartzios, and Garrod 2016). ...
This article has been published and please find the published version at:
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Javakhishvili-Larsen, N., & Andersen, H. T. (2025). The role of immigrant human capital in Danish second-tier towns and rural areas. European Planning Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2025.2463627
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... Applying this understanding to the context of rural in-migration, we can infer that migrants' risk perceptions are likely shaped by their primary motivations for relocation. Literature on rural in-migration often categorizes these motivations into three main types: lifequality-oriented (Benson & O'Reilly, 2009;Persson, 2019), social-relationship-oriented (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012), and economic-profit-oriented (Gkartzios, 2013). These motivations may serve as a framework for understanding the potential risks that migrants perceive (Colomb & Gallent, 2022). ...
... The latent crisis of industrial regions and the emergence of a new kind of economic dynamics have been increasingly dependent upon the expansion of production systems centered on advanced services [22]. This leads to rapid changes in metropolitan spaces that may result in diversified landscapes and particularly complex spatial distributions of land uses [23][24][25]. ...
Assuming that settlement morphologies and landscape structures are the result of economic transformations, the present study illustrates a statistical framework investigating metropolitan growth due to the inherent changes in landscape configurations vis à vis socio-demographic functions. Focusing on the evolution of their spatial drivers over time, metropolitan development was studied by adopting land parcels (or ‘patches’, as they are referred to in the ecological literature) as the elementary analysis unit—with the individual surface area and a specific shape indicator as the dependent variables and background socioeconomic attributes as predictors of landscape change over time. We specifically ran a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) testing the spatial dependence of the size and shape of landscape parcels on a vast ensemble of socioeconomic factors in a dense region (metropolitan Athens, Greece) with natural landscapes exposed to increasing human pressure. To investigate the spatial direction and intensity of the settlement expansion and landscape change, local regressions using the parcel area and fractal index (perimeter-to-area ratio) as the dependent variables and the elevation, distance from selected economic nodes, transport infrastructures, and natural amenities as the predictors were run separately for 1990 and 2018, representative of, respectively, a mono-centric configuration and a moderately polycentric organization of economic spaces. In a strictly mono-centric setting (1990), the parcel size showed a linear dependence on the distance from business districts, elevation, and wealth. Changes in the relationship between the parcel size and spatial (economic and non-economic) drivers may suggest a latent process of settlement de-concentration, and a possible shift toward polycentric development (2018), as documented in earlier studies. By integrating socioeconomic and ecological dimensions of landscape analysis and land evaluation, the empirical results of this study outline the increased complexity of dispersed landscape structures within dense metropolitan regions and along urban–rural gradients in Europe.
... While different approaches to and reasons for counterurbanisation from the perspective of the counterurbanites have already been well researched (e.g. Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Gkartzios, 2013;Grimsrud, 2011;Halfacree, 2001b), little is known about other stakeholders that have an interest in promoting a 'counterurbanisation story'. Thus, we add another layer to the study of the construction of a 'counterurbanisation story' (Champion, 1998). ...
... Secondly, as the UK is a developed country, its process of urbanization and counter-urbanization appeared earlier (Headicar, 2013). The concept of rural immigration originated from the core areas of Europe and the United States (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012), while the story of British rural migration was dominant in Europe (Gkartzios, 2013). And the idyllic lifestyle and rural image were once popular in British society. ...
The spread of COVID-19 and corresponding government interventions have changed residents' travel and mobility, and recent academic literatures suggests that this have had a positive impact on rural recreation. This study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural recreation from the perspective of population mobility, aiming to explore the changes in park visits during the pandemic, identify the motivation and demand of urban residents for leisure activities under the impact of the pandemic and to test the hypothesis of the accelerating the shift to rural recreation. Using the UK as the case study, it compared the park visits in four stages according to the COVID-19 policies: pre-, strict, eased, and fully lifted lockdown. Based on multivariate datasets, stepwise regression models of park visits in urban areas of 25 counties in the UK during each stage were constructed and compared. The results showed that residents preferred to visit smaller parks before and in the early stage of the pandemic. In the strict lockdown stage, the movement of residents to parks decreased significantly. During the eased lockdown period, park visits increased significantly, but there was clear spatial variation across the country attributed to the severity of the pandemic in each region, and different control policies of local governments. During the period when the lockdown was fully lifted, the frequency of park visits remained an increasing trend compared to the baseline period but decreased slightly compared to the eased lockdown period due to the increasing number of park visitors and more crowded park sites. Obviously, residents were more willing to visit distant country parks after an extended period of lockdown control, and mainly congregated in dispersed recreation sites such as the wilderness and forests that were distributed outside of urban areas and farther away. This study broadens the related literature using the evidence from changes of park visits, which to some extent confirms that the pandemic accelerates the leisure activities taking place from urban to suburban parks. The results can provide new inspiration for the future research on rural recreation and tourism, and also provide guidelines for planning peri-urban rural parks to prepare for future public health crises along with the population shift tendency.
... In a developed country like the US, the process of counter-urbanization championed by wealthy urbanites who are influenced to escape the city and the conscious effort by their government to provide basic amenities has been used to revive rural areas. Some countries that experience this trend include the Netherlands (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012) and Norway (Grimsrud, 2011). However, compared to China which is still undergoing rapid urbanization, cities that are still developing are underpinned by the principles of agglomeration to maximize economic returns . ...
The study synthesizes research advances on China’s rural revitalization pathways using datasets generated from the Web of Science core database and visualized with R-studio’s Biblioshiny software package. A bibliometric technique was utilized to report on some key actors’ performance metrics and contributions between 2017 and 2022. This study puts forth the following points based on evidence generated (1) the rate of change analysis revealed increasing scientific output leads to the advancement of various sectors and overall societal progress (2) the top 5 performing journals, namely; “Sustainability,” “Land Use Policy,” “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,” “Land,” and “Journal of Cleaner Production” produce and disseminate information that drive innovations, socioeconomic development and policy responses (3) collaborative network analysis revealed a low level of collaboration between (i.e., inter) the top-performing authors in the field, whereas a high degree was observed among (i.e., intra) the dominant authors and their cohorts (4) the proposed thematic map classified "the concept of rural revitalization" into four broad themes: niche, motor, emerging or declining, and basic topics. Evidence-based decision-making scenarios and cross-cutting initiatives highlighted in this study foster "creative placemaking" and "smart rural shrinkage" efforts by informing the decisions of nations within the Global North and South frames to re-evaluate revitalization strategies amid sustainability concerns. Future researchers and donors are presented with the ease and avenues on where to seek appropriate information based on emerging frontiers and contributions of top journals, authors and nations with low scientific output and investments in rural development.
... However, it only captures a subset of rural mobilities that can be described as an urban exodus motivated by the rural idyll. Amidst ongoing globalisation, a notable characteristic is the increased, diversified, and amplified migration from, to, and within rural areas, necessitating a more encompassing framework for rural mobility (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Gkartzios, 2013;Halfacree, 2008;Milbourne, 2007;Stockdale, 2016). Therefore, our emphasis here will be on the migrants who, as a result of a larger counterurbanisation phenomenon, relocate to rural areas, encompassing both domestic and transnational movements. ...
... The participants lived in 46 municipalities, out of the total 355 municipalities (determined in 2019), hence representing a coverage of 13%. Regarding the geographical sizes of our included PC6's, it is important to stress that in the north of the Netherlands the sizes of the PC6 are quite different from each other due to the prevalence of large scale agricultural areas [45]. Within the inner cities administrative PC6 units are much smaller than those in regional or rural areas. ...
Background
Previous cross-sectional and longitudinal observational studies revealed positive relationships between contextual built environment components and walking behavior. Due to severe restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, physical activity was primarily performed within the immediate living area. Using this unique opportunity, we evaluated whether built environment components were associated with the magnitude of change in walking activity in adults during COVID-19 restrictions.
Methods
Data on self-reported demographic characteristics and walking behaviour were extracted from the prospective longitudinal Lifelines Cohort Study in the Netherlands of participants ≥ 18 years. For our analyses, we made use of the data acquired between 2014–2017 (n = 100,285). A fifth of the participants completed the questionnaires during COVID-19 restrictive policies in July 2021 (n = 20,806). Seven spatial components were calculated for a 500m and 1650m Euclidean buffer per postal code area in GIS: population density, retail and service destination density, land use mix, street connectivity, green space density, sidewalk density, and public transport stops. Additionally, the walkability index (WI) of these seven components was calculated. Using multivariable linear regression analyses, we analyzed the association between the WI (and separate components) and the change in leisure walking minutes/week. Included demographic variables were age, gender, BMI, education, net income, occupation status, household composition and the season in which the questionnaire was filled in.
Results
The average leisure walking time strongly increased by 127 min/week upon COVID-19 restrictions. All seven spatial components of the WI were significantly associated with an increase in leisure walking time; a 10% higher score in the individual spatial component was associated with 5 to 8 more minutes of leisure walking/week. Green space density at the 500m Euclidean buffer and side-walk density at the 1650m Euclidean buffer were associated with the highest increase in leisure walking time/week. Subgroup analysis revealed that the built environment showed its strongest impact on leisure walking time in participants not engaging in leisure walking before the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to participants who already engaged in leisure walking before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions
These results provide strong evidence that the built environment, corrected for individual-level characteristics, directly links to changes observed in leisure walking time during COVID-19 restrictions. Since this relation was strongest in those who did not engage in leisure walking before the COVID-19 pandemic, our results encourage new perspectives in health promotion and urban planning.
... Berg, 2020;Gustafson, 2006;Tomaney, 2015) and place ambivalence (e.g. Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Easthope & Gabriel, 2008) are the main theoretical concepts that help us understand return migration in a specific rural context, and through analyses develop these further. Interviews with 19 Danish, highly educated returnees were carried out (12 females, 7 males, mainly parents with young children). ...
Pls read Proceedings PDF, pages 203-205.
... Overall, youth migration should be viewed as a multidimensional and complex process in which life course events as well as structural and socio-economic factors must be taken into account. While research on internal migration within western countries has generally identified work and education as the main drivers of internal migration, more recent studies have also highlighted the importance of cultural amenities as well as social ties, especially those to family members (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012;Mulder, 2018). Furthermore, people's norms and values -e.g., searching for an open and tolerant living environment -are potential drivers of migration (Florida, 2004;Fratsea, 2019). ...
The depopulation of rural areas has received increasing attention in recent years, both in scientific discourses and in policy-making. One main factor contributing to this rural shrinkage is the out-migration of the rural population. In particular, young and well-educated people have been leaving rural areas and moving to urban agglomerations. While the drivers as well as the consequences of out-migration have been well researched, less is known about measures to counteract youth out-migration as one of the main drivers of depopulation. Based on a comparative case study conducted in four rural regions affected by youth out-migration in Austria and Germany, this paper discusses policy measures that are specifically targeted at influencing young people's migration aspirations. In addition, the effects of these measures on rural youth migration are analysed. After implementing measures that take the needs of young people into consideration, all four case study regions started to experience a decrease in their negative youth migration balance. This was mainly due to an increase in in-migration, while youth out-migration rates remained stable. However, these developments follow the general trend of rural youth migration in Austria and Germany in recent years. Thus, more research is needed to evaluate the actual impact of youth-oriented measures. This paper introduces the "youth-oriented regional development" approach, and highlights perspectives for future research on policies aimed at mitigating the challenges facing rural regions that are experiencing depopulation.
... In such contexts of fully commodified land, the rent gap appears as the dominant mechanism to explain spatial variation in rural gentrification, with various self-interested private actors reacting to, as well as influencing the rent gap (Gkartzios and Scott, 2012;Phillips, 2005;Solana-Solana, 2010). Western studies of rural rent gap dynamics have developed valuable insights into the role of state actors and legal and institutional contexts (Phillips, 2005;Sayre, 2011;Walker, 2017), generally focusing on how the rent gap is affected by planning (Darling, 2005;Murdoch and Marsden, 1995) or (infrastructural) development policies (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012;Fertner, 2013;Gkartzios and Scott, 2010;Grimsrud, 2011). In rural China, entrepreneurial local state representatives and village cadres have also been identified as rent-seeking actors stimulating gentrification (Qian et al., 2013;Yang et al., 2018), and the impact of public infrastructure on the value of rural land has equally been noted (Liu and Kesteloot, 2015). ...
Rural China is experiencing rapid socioeconomic transformations, including suburbanisation and rural gentrification. In this paper, we argue that to understand these processes, we have to take into account the changes in rural land rights. Based on an analysis of a pilot case for China's rural collective commercial construction land (RCCCL) reform policy at the edge of Chengdu City, we demonstrate how state-led rural land reform paves the way for stealthy land dispossession and rural gentrification. Our argument in this paper is threefold. First, given the entrenched collective land use rights of rural villagers in China, state-led land commodification, is a necessary condition for rural gentrification in China. Secondly, the prospect of capital accumulation through rural gentrification motivates entrepreneurial public and private actors to promote such reforms in ways that dispossess rural peasants and peasant collectives of their land (use) rights. Thirdly, the particularities of dispossession through state-led land reform result in particular experiences of displacement and displacement pressure on the side of affected rural communities. Our findings contribute to the decentring of rural gentrification theory, in that they underline the necessity to include the particular histories of land commodification and dispossession in our understanding of rural gentrification in contexts where rural land is partly or wholly shielded from market influences. In the case of China, dynamics of rural gentrification are blurring the rural-urban boundary on three dimensions: political economy (land use governance), material infrastructure (landscape and residential architecture), and socio-cultural practices (rural livelihoods and identity).
... Today this trend has been experienced in many developed European countries on different scales; national, regional, and international. For example, the countryside of Spain, (Camarero & Oliva, 2002;Rivera-Escribano, 2007;Solona-Solona, 2010;Weidinger & Kordel, 2016), France (Buller & Hoggart, 1994;Stone & Stubbs, 2007;Benson, 2011), Sweden (Hedberg & Haandrikman, 2014;Carson & Carson, 2017;Eimermann, Lundmark & Muller, 2012;Eimermann, 2015), United Kingdom (Halfacree, 1994), Australia (Krivokapic-Skoko & Collins, 2016) and The Netherlands (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012) have become alternative destinations for urbanites. According to these studies, motivators of these movements are diverse: (1) the disliked features of the city (increasing crowd, uncontrolled urbanization, traffic and noise etc.), (2) the physical attractiveness of the countryside -higher quality of life (greenery, fresh air, and natural 1 Emlak Kulisi. ...
This article focuses on migration from big cities to the countryside in Turkey, in the case of Muğla province with a lifestyle migration lens, based on content analysis of the stories of migrants posted on the YouTube platform that provides a basis to increase digital migration research. Research results showed that a group of people who were mainly earlier in their life cycle and worked in the private sector in the big cities quitted their jobs to start a new life in the countryside. Most of them escape from the disliked characteristics of big cities, negative emotions caused by urban life and intense work pressure. They are in search of natural and production-centred life in rural areas of the Turkish Aegean. The results indicated that Covid-19 also emerged as a recent motivator. Contrary to the city, favourable features of the countryside, especially the possibility of living in a detached house with a garden, strengthened the positive image of the rural areas. They are seen as safer and more comfortable locations because in the case of a curfew, outdoor activities and a mask-free daily life would be possible due to the private gardens. Migration from big cities to rural areas seems to become a more popular trend with the pandemic.
... Marsden1995 analyzed the development levels of agricultural systems and divided these villages into different types: productionoriented villages and integrative villages according to the period of rural development. To collect rural migration models, Bijker et al. 63 evaluated the popularity degree of rural areas according to the landscape and employment and divided rural areas into popular and less popular areas. Thus, it is important to start a diagnostic system to classify various villages. ...
Rural revitalization strategies are an important task in China. Currently, it is in the transition from poverty alleviation to rural revitalization. This paper proposes an evaluation index of rural revitalization and development potential based on a summary of previous studies. Together with the TOPSIS method, the corresponding coefficients of each index layer and the weight coefficient of the criterion layer were analyzed. This shows that during the process, the work direction of rural revitalization varies based on different revitalization types. In this study, diagnostic tools are utilized to conduct a potential development analysis of rural human settlements by identifying the main influencing factors for rural revitalization. In addition, an index system for improving rural human settlement strategies is established. Overall, it helps in defining the interventions of reducing and managing the risk of rural vitalization and evaluating the potential ability of rural revitalization. It also suggests that Anhui Province should focus on carrying out the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas according to the different functional positions of the countryside.
... From a socioeconomic perspective, one would thus expect strong urban-rural differences in place resentment. However, old industrialised cities and towns are also left behind by globalization and economic transformation and suffer from demographic decline, while this does not apply to villages close to booming cities (Bijker and Haartsen 2012;Kühn 2015;Lang 2012). This indicates the importance of taking into account the centre-periphery dimension as well. ...
This study tests a novel explanation for geographic divides in populist and anti-immigration attitudes. This explanation centres around place resentment: the feeling that one’s area is ignored by policy makers and that members of one’s local community are misunderstood and disrespected by inhabitants of other areas. I argue that place resentment mediates the relationship between the type of area one inhabits and political attitudes. With representative survey data and contextual data from The Netherlands, I show that place resentment is an important mediator explaining how geographic divides translate into anti-immigration and populist attitudes. Place resentment is a stronger explanation for geographic variation in political attitudes than alternative explanations I explored. The results suggest that place resentment plays a central role in explaining geographic polarization in Western democracies.
... The data on Tehran between 2011 and 2016 shows that 27% of the 369 000 Tehranis who moved out of the city resettled in the peripheral regions of Tehran, the areas between the two boundaries, CAB and TMR which serve as the setting of the majority of the expansion in the form of creation of peripheral towns and villages (light grey area in Figure 2). Similar cases to the phenomenon of 'reverse migration' (Potts 1995;Rahman Bhuyan, Khan, Ahmed 2001;Costello 2007) have been identified within the Northern discourses as 'counter-urbanisation' (Bijker, Haartsen 2012) and 'decentralisation' (Cheshire 1995;Panebianco, Kiehl 2003). The problematic of reverse migration in the cities of the Global South, however, does not lie in environmental degradation and loss of valua-ble peripheral lands, although these concerns are legitimate and need attention. ...
The proliferation of anti-sprawl policies across the cities in the Global South and North appears to be a legitimate backlash to an ever-increasing rate of urban growth and expansion in the 21st century. Questions remain, however, around the outcomes of sprawl-controlling plans, the extent to which the Northern perspectives dominate the anti-sprawl rhetoric across the globe, and whether transferring them to the rapidly expanding Southern cities is rational and feasible. It is essential to acknowledge that the incentives and, in turn, consequences of urban sprawl in the Southern cities are substantially different from their Northern counterparts. Such divergences call for a new approach towards ‘provincialisation’ (Sheppard, Leitner and Maringanti, 2013 Sheppard, E.; Leitner, H.; Maringanti, A. (2013): Provincializing global urbanism: A manifesto. Urban Geography; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2013.807977.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) of urban sprawl discourses.
This paper examines the intersection of anti-sprawl debates and spatial injustice and incorporates both empirical and theoretical elements. The empirical element examines the historical development of anti-sprawl strategies in Tehran since the 1960s and scrutinises the consequences of the urban containment policies and plans, particularly in relation to the creation of peripheral spatial traps and through the lens of spatial justice, citizenship and the ‘right to the centre’ (Marcuse, 2009 Marcuse, P. (2009): Spatial justice: derivative but causal of social injustice. Spatial Justice, 1 (4), pp.1–6. [Google Scholar]; Harvey, 2010 Harvey, D. (2010): Social justice and the city. University of Georgia Press. [Google Scholar]; Soja, 2013 Soja, E.W. (2013): Seeking spatial justice. U of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]). The theoretical element contributes to the debate on the ‘theory from the South’ by underlining the dialectical interplay of centre and periphery within the trajectories of urban growth in the Southern cities and arguing for the need to develop multiple urban epistemologies capable of explaining the complexities of multiple urban conditions in the South.
The core argument of this paper is thus twofold. First and through an empirically supported argument, it contends that anti-sprawl policies and strategies in Tehran act as catalysts in the densification/sprawl dialectical transformation of the cities and intensify the creation of unjust geographies in the peripheral buffer zones through displacement and compromising the ‘right to the centre’ of (non)citizens. Second and from a wider perspective, the paper argues against theorisation of urban sprawl as a universally relevant and applicable category of urban transformation and calls for a reformulation of the concept, its drivers and materialisation, and the institutional responses given to it from the Southern perspective.
... Berg, 2020;Gustafson, 2006;Tomaney, 2015) and place ambivalence (e.g. Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Easthope & Gabriel, 2008) are the main theoretical concepts that help us understand return migration in a specific rural context, and through analyses develop these further. Interviews with 19 Danish, highly educated returnees were carried out (12 females, 7 males, mainly parents with young children). ...
... At pre-retirement and retirement age, people favour suburbs rather than large densely-populated cities, when relocating. Such age-specific migration patterns are found in a number of European countries (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Stockdale, 2006Stockdale, , 2016, because large cities do not have a net migration surplus of elderly people. On the other hand, unlike the findings of European studies, elderly migrants in Russia do not relocate to the least populated periphery areas. ...
This paper analyses age-specific migration exchange between municipal formations (MFs) in Russia based on the net migration and population density data covering the period 2012–2018. Unlike many other developed countries, Russia’s population concentrates in only 2–5% of the country’s territory—in large cities and their suburbs. We utilise population density as an alternative measure for distinguishing between urban and rural populations (which is a formal distinction in most cases) in the urban–rural continuum. The results indicate that internal migration pattern in Russia corresponds to the urbanisation stage of the urban development model and is observed across all age groups. Net migration across all age groups is higher in more densely populated MFs. Migration to more densely populated territories peaks in the 15–19 age group and seems to have no viable alternative directions. Besides the analysis of internal migration role in the urban development patterns in Russia, the paper also contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between age-specific migration and urban development in the Russian context.
... Kupiszewski et al. 1998;Szymańska, Biegańska 2011;Winiarczyk-Raźniak, Raźniak 2012;Pytel 2017;Gałka, Warych-Juras 2018;Popjakova et al. 2018) and counter-urbanisation (e.g. Grzeszczak 2000;Bijker, Haartsen 2012;Crankshaw, Borel-Saladin 2019). In this context, large cities in the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe that underwent a political transformation in the 1990s constitute a special case, including the ensuing socio-economic changes (market-oriented growth) that drove the second phase of urban sprawl in the region. ...
In the majority of large cities in Poland there is a migration outflow, resulting mainly from suburbanisation processes. However, it should be noted that the inhabitants of large cities do not move exclusively to the suburban zone. The study below focuses on the migratory outflow of Wrocław residents. The authors characterise it by presenting the directions of population movements and determining their sustainability. The authors conclude that the target area of immigrants from Wrocław is mostly a suburban area, but there are also permanent migration flows to other rural communities in the voivodeship and other large cities in the country. The area of emigration itself goes beyond the scope of the voivodeship of which Wrocław is the capital.
... If new generations of children mostly move from rural to urban areas, parents in rural areas are 'left behind' by children, whereas parents in urban areas are not. There also is return migration when adult children become parents themselves, sometimes to the rural areas where people grew up (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Kulu & Milewski, 2007;von Reichert et al., 2014). In the current paper, the focus is on the characteristics of the adult child generation, and the prediction is that urbanisation is positively related to geographic distance. ...
Competing claims exist about how the geographic distance between parents and their adult children has changed historically. A classic modernisation hypothesis is that people currently live further away from their parents than in the past. Others have argued for stability and the remaining importance of local family ties, in spite of a long‐term decline in co‐residence of adult children and parents. The current paper uses a novel design that relies on reports by grandchildren to study long‐term changes in intergenerational proximity in the Netherlands. The analyses show that there has been a clear and continuous decline in intergenerational proximity between the 1940s and the 1990s. Mediation analyses show that educational expansion and urbanisation are the main reasons why proximity declined. No evidence is found for the role of secularisation and increasing international migration. Proximity to parents declined somewhat more strongly for women than for men.
... Quite a few recent articles analyze the reasons and the effects of international emigration from the poor countries to the rich ones (Franc et al., 2019;Ivlevs et al., 2019;Phyo et al., 2019). A number of articles analyze the reasons, results and trends of internal migration (Bijker & Haartsen, 2012;Geist & McManus, 2012;Bernard et al., 2014;Schundeln, 2014;Coulter & Scott, 2015;Sira & Dubravska, 2015). Some studies have examined the impacts that migration trends have on the housing market (including, among others, Saiz, 2007;Gonzalez & Ortega, 2012;Accetturo et al., 2014;Sá, 2015;Cochrane & Poot, 2019;Tyrcha, 2020). ...
The way housing affordability/wages/unemployment influenced internal migration of the population in Lithu-ania within the period of 2005−2019 is being analyzed in the article. Correlation-regression analysis is used to determine the relationships between the analyzed social phenomena. First, the correlation between housing affordability/wages/un-employment (their changes) and internal migration indicators is calculated, and the impact of data delays is assessed. Later simple and multiple regression equations are constructed. The conditions under which and how strongly housing afford-ability/wages/unemployment can influence population migration decisions have been identified in the analysis. Higher affordability of housing/wages is positively related to the number of people who moved to a certain Lithuanian city from other places in Lithuania per year. On the contrary, negative dependence of the number of people who moved to a certain city from other places in Lithuania on the unemployment rate in the city where those people moved in have been recorded. Both, affordability of housing and the unemployment rate explain actually 73−88 percent of variable dispersion of the internal migration in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda.
... People from rural areas were more likely than those from large cities to return to lagged regions. Ties with family, friends, and comfort from familiarity were positively associated with graduates deciding on their mobility pattern [23][24][25]. ...
This study identifies what factors have effects on college graduates’ decisions to stay for jobs in lagged regions using a bivariate probit model with sample selection. The results show that strong preferences for a home village and a university region contribute to the decision about job location concerning the regions. In addition, low living costs have much significant impact on spatial choice compared with economic factors, such as the levels of wage and job security. The long-term economic growth of lagged regions could be affected by a preference of high-school graduates to attend local universities.
... Considering the occupancy rates of second homes in coastal regions in the world as of the 1950s and in Turkey as of the 1980s, it was detected that the mobility was directed towards mountainous areas (Travis, 2007;Ooi et al., 2015). In this context, the rural space is opened for consumption by being rebuilt in accordance with the tastes of the second homeowner middle class (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012). The fact that reinforced concrete structures are built instead of traditional architecture supports this situation. ...
Eastern Black Sea Region is one of the most important regions in the development of second home tourism for the mountainous areas in Turkey. There is considerable literature gap on research about second-home tourism in the mountainous areas of Turkey. For this reason, in this study, we aim to determine the development issue and mobility patterns of second home tourism in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The research population consists of seven provinces located in the Eastern Black Sea region. The sample of the study is thirty highlands in Eastern Black Sea Region. A multistage cluster sampling technique was applied at the sample selection. The primary data were collected by the use of questionnaire surveys conducted with a total of 900 second homeowner selected by convenience sampling during July 2010. A total of 60 digital TIFF format monoscopic aerial photographs were analysed by using Erdas Imagine LPS and ArcGIS 9.3 software for showing the second home increase in the area. At the sampling highlands, 2.830 dwelling units have increased in the last thirty years. According to the questionnaire results of the study, second homeowners generally come to the region in May and June. Most of them leave the area in September. Second homeowners spend mostly 91-120 days in the region. The beautiful landscape and weather conditions are main motivations to acquire a second home from the region. Second-home demand in the region is gradually increasing. Therefore, the determination of main motivation sources for the second home demand and movement pattern towards the second homes provide useful information for planning issues. The study is also a pioneer research about the second homes in the mountainous area at Turkey.
... This study thereby challenges the traditional narrative of counterurbanisation, in line with contemporary counter-urban research (Bijker and Haartsen, 2012;Grimsrud, 2011;Halfacree, 2008), in which increasing attention is being given to movers and destinations that do not fit the 'typical' counter-urban movement of the middle class to an idyllic rural setting. ...
This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing revitalisation of the counterurbanisation research within population geography by nuancing counterurban migration beyond the rural–urban dichotomy, including all moves downwards in the urban hierarchy. The focus is to explore counterurban migration patterns among families with children leaving Swedish metropolitan areas, and whether some groups of skilled professions are more likely to make a counterurban move than others. Using register data on all families moving out from metropolitan areas in Sweden during the period 2003–2013, we found a small but steady outflow of families, mainly to medium-sized or small towns. The highly educated are overrepresented among these families, thus providing potential for an inflow of competence to the receiving areas. Contrary to expected, the assumed flexibility in time and space among knowledge sector professionals does not seem to enable them more than others to pursue counterurban moves. Instead, public sector professionals characterise families making a counterurban move to all destination regions, while men with a profession within arts and crafts to a higher extent move with their family to more rural areas.
Given its unpredictable nature, metropolitan growth in the old continent is considered an intriguing and intricate economic issue at the same time. Urbanization—both compact and dispersed—and suburbanization sequences have occurred in distinctive ways across cities and regions, highlighting peculiar relationships between land use, social dynamics, economic structures, and functions. Settlement dispersion advanced rapidly in Southern Europe—irrespective of city's size and shape—with building rates rising faster than total population. Despite sharing some transformative forces (population dynamics, sociospatial structures, and planning deregulation), urban expansion and metropolitan development have adapted to increasingly volatile economic, cultural, sociodemographic, and environmental contexts. Understanding how place-specific factors influence patterns and processes of metropolitan expansion in Mediterranean contexts may inform policies promoting settlement containment, land-use management, and sustainable development of contemporary cities.
Rural communities throughout Japan, especially in the most peripheral regions, are experiencing rapid demographic, socio-economic, and environmental decline, with many facing the possibility of vanishing in the coming decades. To address these issues, the Japanese government has implemented various policy initiatives aimed at rural revitalisation, some of which focus on attracting newcomers to depopulating rural communities and encouraging counterurbanisation. The relocation of urban residents is therefore considered essential to the regeneration of rural and peripheral areas. This paper examines the characteristics and practical implementation of the chiiki okoshi kyouryoukutai (Local Revitalisation Cooperator, LRC) initiative, a well-established national level policy that supports rural revitalisation through counterurbanisation. The initiative offers aspiring urban in-migrants a salary and housing for up to three years, while also requiring them to engage in community-oriented and entrepreneurial activities. The study uses secondary and qualitative primary data to examine the socio-demographic characteristics of LRC members and the successes and challenges of the initiative in meeting its two key policy objectives, namely the settlement of newcomers and the development of local entrepreneurship. The results contribute to our understanding of contemporary urban-to-rural mobilities in Japan, particularly the way counterurbanisation is normatively framed as a process that should benefit both in-migrants and receiving communities. We conclude by delineating the broader potential of this kind of initiative as a rural revitalisation instrument that can be flexibly tailored to the needs of each community and that can facilitate newcomers’ integration. Concurrently, we also raise questions about the degree of success of the policy, particularly regarding its effectiveness in stimulating entrepreneurship and retaining newcomers in the long term.
To Cite this article:
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Javakhishvili-Larsen, N., & Andersen, H. T. (2025). Is the Danish rurality becoming a human capital magnet? In U. Grabski-Kieron & L. Greinke (Eds.), Rural Geographies in Transition: Rethinking Sustainable Futures of Rural Areas (Vol. 11, pp. 224). Münster: LIT Verlag, pp.49-68. Available at https://lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-91700-3/
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This article examines the phenomenon of counterurbanisation in Denmark, focusing on the migration of individuals from urban to rural areas. Despite long-standing challenges in rural areas, the study reveals a positive trend of people, especially the young and employed, moving from cities to rural municipalities. The research, based on panel data and multilinear regression, highlights the role of human capital characteristics, such as higher education and occupational skills, in driving this migration pattern. Contrary to common misconceptions, the study challenges stereotypes by showing that rural areas attract a diverse range of individuals, with a notable increase from 2009 to 2020 in higher-educated, skilled, and higher-income migrants. The research distinguishes migration patterns within rural municipalities, noting an urban/rural dichotomy between II-tier towns and III-tier villages. The results indicate a preference among middle-aged and higher-income individuals migrating towards towns, while younger individuals with lower income and vocational education are inclined towards villages, potentially serving as catalysts for rural transformation in Denmark.
Few studies on residential mobility of ageing adults to rural areas have investigated which of them buy a home in a rural risk area. This paper examines which socio-demographic characteristics, housing attributes and earthquake circumstances influence the actual choice of mid-to-later life adults to purchase a house in a rural risk area. The study focuses on housing transactions in the Dutch Groningen rural earthquake region, compared to transactions in the Groningen rural non-earthquake area from 2012 to 2019 (N = 6,082). Buying a house in the Groningen risk area might be challenging, as the earthquakes have had a significant impact on the regional housing market, the building structure of the houses and the wellbeing of the residents. Earlier research nonetheless suggests that, despite the risks, homebuyers still purchase houses in the Groningen earthquake area. The developed model predicts which mid-to-later life homebuyers of 50 years and older will purchase a dwelling in the Groningen earthquake region. Logistic regression analyses show that characteristics of the mid-to-later life homebuyer and earthquake circumstances are decisive aspects in respect of this choice. Being a single mid-to-later life homebuyer, with a previous residence in the Groningen earthquake region or being born in this region, enlarges the probability of purchasing a home in the earthquake region. Another significant predictor of a home purchase in the earthquake region appears to be a higher earthquake intensity of the homebuyer’s previous residence. These conclusions indicate the existence of a local housing market in rural risk areas.
This study is concerned with the return migration of highly educated young people to rural places. It seeks to understand the drivers and concerns behind their migration patterns and how they deal with own and others’ conflicting perceptions of rurality. Place attachment and place ambivalence in the context of life course changes are the main theoretical perspectives that help us to understand return migration. They are applied in a Danish context and based on analyses of qualitative interviews the concepts are further developed. A main contribution of the study is to look at rural place from the different identity positions of returnees and on that basis nuance the concept of place ambivalence. Another contribution is the identification of specific discursive and action-based coping strategies that returnees utilise to counter external stigmatisation and inner identity battles.
Against the discourse according to which peripheral areas are places doomed to an inevitable fate of constant demographic decline, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the local determinants fostering adaptability to prolonged challenges connected to a condition of peripherality. Exploiting the classification produced within the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas, we investigate the determinants of positive demographic long‐term growth paths of Italian peripheral municipalities using population variation as the dependent variable in a spatially deep lagged model relying on census data from 1971 to 2011. Our longitudinal study provides evidence on the positive effects of demographic and labour‐skills related factors on population dynamics, that may prove to be crucial in supporting policymakers when formulating place‐sensitive strategies to enhance the adaptive capability of places in the face of long‐term slow‐burning pressures.
This paper unpacks the notion of ‘region’ in the current COVID-19 migration debate to understand how the city of Cairns, Queensland fits into a wider geography of internal urban-rural migration in Australia. It unpacks different constructions of ‘region’, showing how they often articulate ‘access’, ‘rural’ and ‘remote’ and a general sense of non-urban entities. We discuss the imagined geographies of different Australian regional classification systems such as the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) and Modified Monash Model (MMM). We show how definitions and classifications of ‘region’ are constructed in particular ways to address political and social issues such as economic development, health, immigration and wider policy-making agendas. The analysis deployed develops a framework for understanding key dimensions of regionality relevant to migration to Cairns in the COVID-19 moment. A critical interpretive analysis helps shed light on the importance of place/context in relation to Australia’s recent urban--rural internal migration debate, but also provides insights to the counter-urbanisation debate in terms of displacing notions of the ‘rural idyll’.
Recent years have seen the growth of planetary perspectives related to urbanisation and gentrification that have challenged the significance of differentiations of rural and urban space. This paper explores the arguments advanced in these perspectives, highlighting claims that they are based on a critique of methodological territorialism that has long been employed in rural and urban studies, as well as exhibiting an urbanormativity that was arguably absent from some earlier critiques of people such as Ray Pahl. This paper seeks to develop a study of rural gentrification that avoids urbanormativity and methodological territorialism. After reviewing debates related to academic and lay conceptions of the urban and rural, the paper highlights how territorial representations may warrant investigation even when social practices may be seen to routinely traverse boundaries of, for example, the rural. The relevance of these ideas to gentrification is then explored through an investigation of the gentrification of a village, which like many ‘urban’ settlements, has experienced both industrialisation and de-industrialisation. Drawing on the results of a ‘mixed-method questionnaire’ conducted in this village in Calderdale, England, the paper explores how the lives of residents are connected into more and less distant urban spaces through an analysis of migrational movements and employment relations, including commuting patterns. It is argued that, in line with arguments advanced within studies of planetary urbanisation/gentrification, there is considerable interconnection between the village and areas that have been classified as urban. However, it is also shown that neither this interconnection, nor the areas industrial past, means that symbolic and affective senses of rurality are insignificant to village residents, or to the practices of gentrification that have emerged. This did not mean that representations of rurality were unimpacted by industry and urban connectivity, with the paper detailing that whilst the village was widely seen as rural, it was also often seen as exhibiting significant unconformity from expectations of rurality. The paper ends by considering how senses of separation and connectivity to urban and industrial spaces link to different types of gentrifiers colonising the village.
So‐called “left behind” regions have gained infamy for working‐class discontent. Yet a concurrent phenomenon has gone unremarked: middle‐class lifestyles in peripheral places. This article examines how middle‐class migrants (defined by economic, social, and cultural capital) to peripheral regions envisage and enact their aspirations. Against presumed migration trajectories to growing urban centres or for better‐paid employment, we argue that seeming moves down the “escalator” reveal how inequalities between regions offer some migrants opportunities to enact middle‐class lifestyles affordably. We present a qualitative case study of West Wales and the Valleys, predominantly rural and post‐industrial and statistically among Europe's most deprived regions. Drawing from interviews with EU and UK in‐migrants alongside long‐term residents, we illustrate how three dimensions of quality of life—material, relational, subjective—are mobilised in middle‐class placemaking amidst peripherality. We demonstrate how spatial inequalities and career trade‐offs offer affordable material access to lifestyle and how middle‐class aspirations enable migrants to subjectively transform peripherality into enchantment.
The migration from metropolitan areas to the countryside is often explained as a nostalgic searching the „rural idyll“. Although many researches engaged in this topic show that this simple statement doesn‘t explain the complexity of the decision process which leads to a choice for a final place for living. The key for understanding the structure of the decentralized behavior lies apparently in a variety of views how people percept pros and cons of particular places.
I will focus on the reasons and priorities of both families and individuals who moved from Prague to a suburban area after the year 2012. To answer the question why Prague citizens prefer certain areas to others, I will employ Lazarsfeld’s Reason Analysis. This method will allow me to generate typical models of accounting schemes and thereby shed more light on how people’s decision making processes. The new insights into this phenomenon will add to and update current knowledge from the perspective of both sociology and socio-geography.
This paper considers the significance of representations of rurality and displacement in relation to the concept of rural gentrification. Studies of rural gentrification have often drawn upon notions of the rural idyll, but have often neglected to consider the presence, or not, of displacement. It has been argued that this lack of attention reflects an absence of displacement connected with middle class in-migration, particularly in early decades of counterurbanisation. This paper aims to examine these arguments drawing on the research publications and archived materials stemming from a study by Ray Pahl of four villages in the English county of Hertfordshire in the early 1960s, alongside material generated from a questionnaire survey conducted in three of these villages. The research demonstrates continuities in processes of gentrification and displacement between the two studies, as well as the emergence of new forms of gentrification and the operation of diverse forms of displacement.
In 2017, the Chinese government implemented a national strategy of "Rural Vitalization" that sought to realize full-scale rural vitalization. However, is it possible to achieve vitalization for all the villages in China? How should their development potential be determined? This paper identified and analyzed the "element-composite" messages of rural development based on 99 exemplary sites of “Beautiful Villages” in China. Combined with the projection pursuit classification method, a diagnostic system of rural vitalization was established; then, Dehua County was taken as a case study for an in-depth analysis. Based on national data analysis, the final results indicated that livelihood resources (LR), agglomeration effects (AE), location and transportation (LT), cultural/natural landscapes (CN), and economic circumstance (EC) are essential elements for successful rural development. Additionally, EC was the only exogenous element, while the remaining elements were endogenous. Furthermore, the villages with better EC presented urbanization rates of 38∼82 % and Engel coefficients of 29∼41 % in their counties; exemplary sites lacking LR, CN, LT, and AE account for 13.13 %, 19.19 %, 26.26 %, and 60.61 % respectively, so the indispensability of these elements decreases progressively in sequence. Only 2 % of villages rely on single element for success, therefore, the composite pattern of development element was also critical; 10 out of 16 types were found to successfully facilitate village development, among which, the type of R-a-L-C (32.32 %) and R-A-L-C (15.15 %) were considered as the greatest potential patterns for vitalization. Finally, by means of the diagnostic system, the ratio of representative villages for high-low potential in Dehua County is evenly split; then, development paths, and land use policies that match with paths were proposed, on the basis of development potential and “element-composite” condition of themselves.
There is growing consensus among academics, regional development organisations and rural communities that the future growth and development of rural regions is increasingly dependent upon their ability to convey, to both established and prospective residents, the ‘amenity’ of their local physical, social and economic environments. However, little research to date has sought to identify exactly what comprises ‘amenity’ in the rural context, or has examined how this conceptually slippery quality is distributed across rural Australia, or how it influences local demographic, socio-economic and land use change. This paper attempts a broad scale investigation of rural amenity in the south-east Australian ecumene, identifying its core components in this context, mapping its distribution and assessing the nature of its influence over in-migration rates over the past three decades. The paper finds that, at a macro-scale, amenity tends to follow a general gradient from high to low according to distance from the coast, and that its relationship with in-migration rates has increased substantially between 1976–1981 and 1996–2001.
Rural gentrification, which is linked in particular to the migration and permanent settlement in the countryside of middle-class or affluent urbanites, is increasingly affecting contemporary rural communities. Despite the significance of this trend, the complex and many-sided phenomenon of rural gentrification has hardly been explored in scholarly research in Québec (Canada), in contrast to the abundant research that exists on this topic in the United Kingdom. Accordingly, the present article will explore different representations by and of the various actors involved vis-à-vis the emergence and polymorphous effects of the gentrification of two regional county municipalities (RCMs) in the province of Québec: Brome-Missisquoi and Arthabaska. Based on the results of qualitative interviews with the four types of actors (newcomers, long-time residents, directors of local and regional community organizations, and municipal officials), it shows the complexity of rural gentrification at various levels: 1) socio-demographically; 2) in terms of housing and economic impacts; 3) on the community and cultural levels; 4) on the physical, environmental and political levels. The findings demonstrate, among other things, the need to go further than simply portraying gentrifiers and, to this end, we have augmented our analysis with representations provided by other actors affected by rural gentrification. The article also stresses the importance of examining the overall effects of the phenomenon, both negative and positive, with a view to improving our understanding of it.
Most of the literature dealing with holiday resorts focuses on high impact, mass market destinations like the south-east coast of Queensland, Bali and other major tourist attractions. Relatively little attention is given to the low profile holiday resort patronised by local holiday-makers taking a relaxed vacation with family and friends. Such resorts may not appear important to tourism researchers as they have a lower impact on their host communities, they do not provide much in the way of facilities or packaged entertainment for the traveller, and they are not featured in the glossy travel literature. Nevertheless, low profile holiday resorts have an important function, satisfying a legitimate market niche. Moreover, perhaps unfortunately for their traditional patrons, these resorts eventually tend to be ‘discovered’ by a wider clientele and their intrinsic character changes.
In early 1990s Greece became one of the prime destination countries for the migrant peoples of the collapsing regimes of the Balkan and Eastern European countries, experiencing, thus, a historical reversal of the massive exodus, in the 1950s and 1960s, of Greeks to the labour markets of Germany, Australia and the USA. This historical reversal seems to identify a pattern that is common to the Southern European countries. Over the last ten years, immigrant population has grown to attain approximately one tenth of the population of Greece. This development occurs at a time when pressures are being exerted on agricultural incomes following the reform of the CAP and subsequent evidencing of the first consequences of market liberalization in the context of a globalizing international economy. This paper aims at analyzing and interpreting the main findings of an empirical research programme on the economic and social implications of migrant settlement and employment in rural Greece. The research was carried out in three paradigmatic regions of the country: a) in a mountainous, less favoured region, b) in a region with dynamic agriculture, and c) in an insular region of agricultural and tourist development. The paper draws from a qualitative study of administrators and opinion leaders. It is divided into four parts: the first part presents the main elements of migration in rural Southern Europe in the frame of what is known as the South European model of migration. The second part discusses migration towards Greece and reviews research work relating to rural migration. With reference to methodology and the main research hypotheses, the third part presents the analysis of empirical findings concentrating on the importance of migrant labour for the operation of the farm and rural restructuring followed by a discussion of the position and role of migrants in rural society and development. The final part summarizes the main conclusions of this analysis.
One of the most recognizable and important changes occurring in the West is rapid population growth. This article intends to address questions associated with whether patterns of population growth and income migration are associated with “new” and “old” West economies. Rural restructuring in the U.S. has created a group of counties with service-based economies. In the Mountain West, a number of counties with service-based economies are located in areas with high levels of environmental or natural amenities, creating what has been termed the “New West.” Migration to the rural parts of the Mountain West, and the income transfers associated with migration, are increasingly concentrated within these New West counties. Rapid population growth, the changing characteristics of in-migrants, and their spatial concentration in New West counties provide a basis for conflicts over what the rural West is becoming.
The rapidly expanding research record concerning aesthetic, emotional and physiological response to visual landscapes is summarized, with emphasis on aesthetic preferences for views containing trees and other vegetation. The survey is set within a conceptual perspective suggesting that affective responses such as aesthetic preference are central to a landscape observer's thoughts, conscious experience and behavior. Substantial progress has been made in developing models that relate aesthetic responses to specific visual properties of environments. When aesthetic preferences are compared for urban and unspectacular natural views, American and European adult groups evidence a strong tendency to prefer nature. However, liking for urban scenes usually increases when trees and other vegetation are present. Views of nature, compared to most urban scenes lacking natural elements such as trees, appear to have more positive influences on emotional and physiological states. The benefits of visual encounters with vegetation may be greatest for individuals experiencing stress or anxiety. Recent research demonstrates that responses to trees and other vegetation can be linked directly to health, and in turn related to economic benefits of visual quality.
This article was accepted for publication in the journal, The Sociological Review and the definitive version is available at: http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0038-0261 For the past few years, the term ‘lifestyle migration’ has been used to refer to an increasing number of people who take the decision to migrate based on their belief that there is a more fulfilling way of life available to them elsewhere. Lifestyle migration is thus a growing, disparate phenomenon, with important but little understood implications for both societies and individuals. This article outlines and explores in detail a series of mobilities that share in common relative affluence and this search for a better lifestyle. We attempt to define the limits of the term lifestyle migration, the characteristics of the lifestyle sought, and the place of this form of migration in the contemporary world. In this manner, we map the various migrations that can be considered under this broad rubric, recognising the similarities and differences in their migration trajectories. Further to this, drawing on the sociological literature on lifestyle, we provide an initial theoretical conceptualisation of this phenomenon, attempting to explain its recent escalation in various guises, and investigating the historical, sociological, and individualised conditions that inspire this migration. This article is thus the first step in defining a broader programme for the study of lifestyle migration. We contend that the study of this migration is especially important in the current era given the impact such moves have on places and people at both ends of the migratory chain. Accepted for publication
In deze studie wordt een beeld geschetst van de plattelandseconomie in Nederland en wordt onderzocht hoe de plattelandseconomie kan worden versterkt. Er wordt met twee verschillende ruimtelijke afbakeningen van de plattelandseconomie gewerkt: COROPgebieden en het landelijk gebied buiten de dorpen en steden. Het behoud van de duurzame kwaliteit van het landschap blijkt een belangrijk zorgpunt in de Nederlandse plattelandseconomie te zijn. Uit een voorlopige toetsing van een aantal beleidsinstrumenten, waarbij uitdrukkelijk aandacht wordt besteed aan institutionele aspecten, komt naar voren dat het Programma Beheer, Beheer door Staatsbosbeheer en Grondverwerving veelbelovende instrumenten lijken te zijn ter ondersteuning van de kwaliteit van het landschap. In this study, an overview of the Dutch rural economy is given and it is explored by which means the Dutch rural economy can be strengthened. Two different spatial approaches of the rural economy are used: the first at NUTS 3 level, whereas the second one focuses on rural areas outside towns and villages. The maintenance of a sustainable quality of landscape appears to be a main concern of the Dutch rural economy. A provisional analysis of policy instruments with specific attention to institutional aspects reveals that the so-called 'Programma Beheer', 'Beheer door Staatsbosbeheer' and 'Grondverwerving' (instruments all directed at landscape management by farmers or nature organisations) are amongst the promising instruments for supporting landscape quality.
The culture - economy dialectic (CED), the opposition of the concepts and phenomena of culture and economy, is one of the most important notions in the modern history of ideas. Both the disciplinary boundaries and much theoretical thought in social science are strongly influenced or even determined by the CED. Hence, a thorough analysis and evaluation of the CED might be useful to better understand the history of ideas in social science and the currently fashionable research on the cultural influences on economic differences between countries and regions. This book, my PhD thesis, attempts to do just that. The concepts of "culture" and "economy" (and related concepts) and the (assumed) relationships therebetween are compared and analysed. Empirical results from earlier studies are summarised and some new test are presented. These new tests are partly based on a measurement of Dutch regional culture. However, it appeared that most theories of the CED are (nearly) impossible to (empirically) verify. There seems to be some influence of wealth on specific cultural phenomena (such individualism and post-materialism), but the often assumed influence of culture on entrepreneurship and economic growth remains unconfirmed. Moreover, from an analysis of the theories themselves, it appears that most of these cannot be falsified and are, therefore, hardly 'scientific'. Many of the theories of the CED and, in fact, many theories of social science in general are of a conceptual rather than a causal nature. These theories cannot easily be falsified by empirical means alone, but must be studied by means of conceptual analysis. In the final conclusions, this book, therefore, argues for conceptual analysis in, and a more anarchist approach to, social science.
This study focuses on the population changes in the countryside and in urban centres within the municipalities of Sweden outside the metropolitan areas, between 1990 and 1997. Overall, the countryside showed a higher population increase than the municipality centres. Smaller population centres suffered a population decline. The increase in population in the countryside was strongest in areas surrounding the metropolises and around regional centres. Statistical analysis showed that population change outside population centres mainly varies with the average income, labour-market access, and taxation values or housing costs in the municipalities. This process of change has run directly counter to the policy that was formulated for small municipalities from the end of the 1960s onwards. The growth in rural population was spontaneous for the most part, and more or less in conflict with the plans of the municipalities.
One of the most recognizable and importance changes occuring in the West is rapid population growth. This article intends to address questions associated with whether patterns of population growth and income migration are associated with "new" and "old" West economies. Rural restructuring in the U.S. has created a group of counties with service-based economies. In the Mountain West, a number of counties with service-based economies are located in areas with high levels of environmental or natural amenities, creating what has been termed the "New West" Migration to the rural parts of the Mountain West, and the income transfers associated with migration, are increasingly concentrated within these New West counties. Rapid population growth, the changing characteristics of in-migrants, and their spatial concentration in New West counties provide a basis for conflicts over what the rural West is becoming.
Rural geography may be simply defined as the study of people, places, and landscapes in rural areas, and of the social and economic processes that shape these geographies. However, as the definition of ?rural? has become increasingly difficult and contested, the boundaries of ?rural geography? have been tested. Rural geography today is hence a diverse and dynamic subdiscipline. Traditional areas of study including agricultural geography, resource management and conservation, land use and planning, population and migration, economic development, settlement patterns, rural infrastructure and recreation and tourism, have been joined by newer concerns such as poverty and social welfare, governance and politics, rural culture and media representations, and the ?neglected rural geographies? of ?othered? groups. There is a long history of studying rural settlements and land uses in geography, but these areas of research had fallen out of favor by the 1950s and 1960s. The formal subdiscipline of ?rural geography? as we know it today really emerged in the 1970s, as an attempt to promote an integrated approach to the study of rural areas which combined agricultural geography with other aspects of rural life. Early work in the new rural geography was strongly empirical in focus and was critiqued by the adoption of a political-economy perspective by geographers drawing on ?critical rural studies? in rural sociology. A further theoretical advance resulted from the ?cultural turn? in the 1990s, which introduced post-structuralist theory and prompted interest in the multiple experiences of rural life by different social groups. These various influences are all evident in rural geography as practiced today; however, variations still exist in the emphasis and conceptual tendencies of rural geography in different countries, reflecting particular national contexts that have framed research agendas and the varying strength of rural geography compared with related disciplines such as rural sociology.
In early 1990s Greece became one of the prime destination countries for the migrant peoples of the collapsing regimes of the Balkan and Eastern European countries, experiencing, thus, a historical reversal of the massive exodus, in the 1950s and 1960s, of Greeks to the labour markets of Germany, Australia and the USA. This historical reversal seems to identify a pattern that is common to the Southern European countries. Over the last ten years, immigrant population has grown to attain approximately one tenth of the population of Greece. This development occurs at a time when pressures are being exerted on agricultural incomes following the reform of the CAP and subsequent evidencing of the first consequences of market liberalization in the context of a globalizing international economy. This paper aims at analyzing and interpreting the main findings of an empirical research programme on the economic and social implications of migrant settlement and employment in rural Greece. The research was carried out in three paradigmatic regions of the country: a) in a mountainous, less favoured region, b) in a region with dynamic agriculture, and c) in an insular region of agricultural and tourist development. The paper draws from a qualitative study of administrators and opinion leaders. It is divided into four parts: the first part presents the main elements of migration in rural Southern Europe in the frame of what is known as the South European model of migration. The second part discusses migration towards Greece and reviews research work relating to rural migration. With reference to methodology and the main research hypotheses, the third part presents the analysis of empirical findings concentrating on the importance of migrant labour for the operation of the farm and rural restructuring followed by a discussion of the position and role of migrants in rural society and development. The final part summarizes the main conclusions of this analysis.
This paper investigates the characteristics of rural migrants in Sweden divided into periurban and remote countryside using register data at the individual level. The results show that during the two years of investigation, 1987 and 1993, there was a concentration of the population in general but the periurban countryside gained migrants from the cities. In addition, the migration pattern had an aging effect on the population in rural areas. It is also shown that migration selectivity is relatively stable during the study period. The countryside is less attractive than urban areas to those with high income and high education but when the two types of countrysides are compared to each other the periurban is more attractive. Despite the renewed interest in rural living which has been reported in a other studies, remote rural areas are less attractive to migrants than periurban areas in Sweden.
The slow, problematic and frequently unsuccessful development of the timber, agricultural and fishing industries in the Denmark area in the early part of the century is contrasted with the rapid postwar growth of tourism and other economic activities. The planning conflicts and problems stemming from this change in the district's economic and demographic fortunes are then considered.
A remarkable present-day phenomenon in rural areas in the Netherlands is that young people, mostly males, often meet in small groups in self-built or at least self-fitted out sheds or caravans (keten). At first glance, these keten seem to be substitutes for more official entertainment sites in the relatively sparsely populated parts of the Dutch countryside, and male rural adolescents, especially, seem to use them as places to drink a lot of alcohol. The drinking image of keten has recently been strongly emphasized and perhaps exaggerated by the popular media. This study intends to find out whether this first impression is true, by examining other activities performed in and identities attached to keten, primarily by using a quantitative approach. The paper shows that an important aspect of the keten culture is that keten provide their members with a place of their own, where they can do whatever they want without having to consider the rules of parents and other educators. The key differences between keten and other hang-outs are that keten are located in private space, relatively close to the parental gaze, and that they are almost exclusively accessible only to friends and acquaintances.
In Denmark, as in most other European countries, there is a net migration from the less urbanized to the more urbanized parts of the country. This article summarizes the results of a Danish study on the extent and composition of migration flows; and on factors and conditions that have a decisive influence on migration to fringe areas. The study shows that a considerable share of movers to the fringe areas in Denmark can be characterised as income-transfer mover. They are people without employment moving to get lower housing costs. But there are also groups of people moving to employment in the areas, going back to places where they have grown up or moving to better housing conditions in a more natural environment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Traditionally, migration away from urban centres by those seeking lifestyle changes has been towards beach environments. More recently though, there have been small movements of people to rural environments seeking similar lifestyle changes. These movements to rural locales have been popularly referred to as treechange. Previous research on exurban migration has primarily focused on quantifying the migration process and attributes of the migrators. In contrast, this paper presents some preliminary findings on the impact of urban-rural migration on a small, semi-rural receiving area north of Melbourne. More specifically, it explores the impact that exurban migration has on local housing markets such as increases in house prices, decreases in affordability and declines in rental stock. The research also illustrates the divisions that appear in local communities between traditional residents and ‘newcomers’ over amenity issues and economic development.
The predominant theories in rural population research are largely rooted in counter-urbanisation contexts, and it seems that the academic and political thinking about rurality is influenced by these ideas in countries beyond those actually experiencing counter-urbanisation. One outcome of this research is the construction of rural in-migration as mainly related to a desire for a rural lifestyle. This paper illustrates in two ways that such representations are not suitable for understanding migration into rural Norway. Firstly, longitudinal data confirm that urban–rural migrations do not increase but encompass a minimal and steady share of the rural population. Secondly, survey data suggest that rural in-migrants are more likely to be motivated by family relations and economic concerns than that by anti-urban preferences for rural living. Migrants moving into the metropolitan fringes, however, are better fit for the motivation structure indicated by the prevailing models of counter-urbanisation. Thus, the paper adds further context to the largely British counter-urbanisation narrative and cautions researchers of population change in remote rural areas about using conceptualisations originating in the core regions of Europe and America.
Internal return migration has received limited attention in most western countries, despite studies attesting to its potential for helping understand population redistribution. This paper compares differences in self-reported motives for migration between return and non-return migrants. Particular attention is paid to differences in individual characteristics and in the types of places these two migrant groups seek. The large-scale Swedish survey data employed in this study make it the most exhaustive on the subject to date, enabling the exploration of different perspectives on migrant motivations. The results indicate significant differences in motivation between return and non-return migrants, even after controlling for differences in individual characteristics and migration patterns. In particular, return migrants are much more likely to move for social reasons and much less likely to move for educational reasons. The evidence is less clear-cut regarding the other motives investigated in this study: although there are indications that employment factors may facilitate return migration, return migration is largely driven by social considerations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article focuses on rural mobility and rural housing using three case studies in Ireland. It is argued that while rural change and rural in-migration have been in the spotlight in academic literature, there has been a very limited interlinking between rural mobilities and population movements and spatial planning and housing research. This is surprising given the current policy framework in local and regional spatial planning, which in many cases adopts narratives of counter-urbanisation. This article investigates the extent and types of rural residential mobility, including counter-urbanisation, rural-to-rural migration and local movements. Then, it examines the reasons driving residential mobility and finally it explores the relationship between mobility and new house building in rural areas. The article concludes that an understanding of rural mobilities is necessary for planning and housing policy, in not only providing background information for an evidence-based approach in policy making, but also in exploring new policy interventions when dealing with rural housing demands.
Two of the most important demographic trends to emerge in recent decades have been the growth of a highly mobile ageing population and a deconcentration of persons from urban to rural areas. This paper investigates Bures' (1997) retirement transition hypothesis for the mobility patterns of pre-retirement age groups in relation to the repopulation of rural areas of England and Scotland. It incorporates household survey data relating to the migration patterns and decisions of those aged between 50 and 64 years. Evidence is obtained to support Bures' hypothesis. It is suggested that an economic transition accompanies any retirement transition. In addition, differences in the nature of the retirement transition are observed between the repopulation of rural England and Scotland. These trends have important policy implications for the future of rural areas. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper seeks to (re)invigorate those engaged with or thinking of engaging with counterurbanisation research in the light of a feeling that the topic has become somewhat academically stagnant, and consequently too easily recuperated by strong popular culture stereotypes, not least that of the sophisticated middle-class urbanite moving themselves and their family to start a ‘new life’ in what is perceived to be an idyllic rural setting. The paper argues, firstly, that even if we accept temporarily some understanding of counterurbanisation that is close to such portrayals, there is still much to find out and appreciate concerning the significance of the moves, both for those involved and for society and culture more generally. Secondly, though, and especially when acknowledging more fully an international migration dimension to counterurbanisation, the paper exposes this understanding as being far too narrow and easily stereotyped. In response to this perceived partiality, the paper proposes a general model, with counterurbanisation as a flexible three-dimensional category, capable of embracing a broader range of people and experiences than is typically the case. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This study analyses differences between counter-urban movers and movers heading for other destinations. Through the elaboration of a spatial model based upon settlement structure and functional hinterlands, counter-urban migration can be measured on the ground throughout the urban system. Empirical analysis of the counter-urban mover is rendered possible by access to a comprehensive longitudinal micro-database that contains demographic, socio-economic and detailed geographic information for all Swedish citizens. Binomial and multinomial logit models are estimated to capture the partial effects of variables related to the individual, the household, the labour market, life course events, and regional economic conditions on the choice of migration destination. The results of the analyses show that counter-urban movers are more likely to be older, born in Sweden or any other Scandinavian country, less well-off, having a university qualification, living single, being outside the labour force, and becoming unemployed close to the migration event. The emerging picture of the Swedish counter-urban mover reveals an individual who may be striving for other qualities in life, where career and earnings are of minor importance. Somewhat unexpectedly, the counter-urban movers show no systematic differences depending on their place of departure. No clear hierarchy-specific effects across the urban system can be found. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Recent demographic studies document movement of poor people from both urban and rural places to depressed rural communities. Such migration redistributes poverty to rural areas and further concentrates it within them. This article presents a case study of one depressed community in New York that became a migration destination for urban poor people, causing dramatic increases in poverty rate, welfare rolls, and service needs. On-site research showed that the community's attraction was inexpensive rental housing that had become available after loss of manufacturing jobs prompted a middle-class exodus. The lack of jobs was not a deterrent for low-income inmigrants, though, because many of them had limited job skills and other employment barriers and would have had difficulty getting or holding a job anyway. Similar processes of economic decline, population loss, and poverty inmigration appear to be occurring elsewhere also. The article identifies community-level impacts and policy implications; it concludes with suggestions for further research needs.
Professional visual artists have always enjoyed considerable latitude in the selection of a place of work and residence. Recent decades have witnessed their growing presence within the Canadian countryside. This paper seeks to provide an interpretation of this phenomenon by exploring two sub-objectives. First is to determine whether artists who establish themselves in rural communities can be considered to be part of the counter-urbanisation movement, involving the relocation of urban residents down the settlement hierarchy. Second is to identify what types of migration are occurring and why. Our surveys of visual artists residing in the southern Ontario communities of Elora and Parry Sound reveal that most participants are part of a movement involving the decision to take up both residence and employment in a rural locale. We further find that the relocation of visual artists is driven to some extent by a strong attachment to natural landscapes. By way of conclusions, we briefly speculate about the broader population of urban residents. We remind ourselves that artists often have been harbingers of new movements and that today there are growing numbers of workers outside the artistic community who also have increasing latitude in regards to choosing where to live and work. Overall, our findings suggest that there is ongoing blurring of geographic boundaries-between space and place, between place of work and place of residence and, of course, between rural and urban.
Abstract Population growth was widespread in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas of the United States during the early 1990s. More than 64 percent of the 2,277 nonmetro counties gained population between 1990 and 1992, compared with only 45 percent in the 1980s. The nonmetro population still grew at a slower pace than did the metropolitan population, but the gap was much narrower than during the 1980s. Net migration gains accounted for 43 percent of the total estimated nonmetro population increase of 879,000 between 1990 and 1992. These findings suggest it is premature to conclude that the renewed population growth in nonmetro areas first noted in the 1970s has ended.
Dutch rural areas have changed into a post-modern countryside and have become marketable commodities. The demand for rural space and rural amenities has increased, with concomitant tensions on the rural housing market, tensions which are enhanced by the restrictive spatial policy in Dutch rural areas. The demand for rural residential environments appears to be large. This paper reports the results of our research into the preferences of urban households for living in a rural residential environment. These preferences will be linked with images and representations of the countryside. It is assumed that individual images of the countryside (whether idyllic or not) affect residential preferences and these preferences have, in turn, their effect on migration behaviour. Empirical evidence suggests that perceptions, preferences and behaviour pertaining to rural residential environments are indeed interrelated. The Dutch countryside commands a very positive image and the demand for residential environments with rural characteristics is considerable. Consequently, a rural idyll can be identified in The Netherlands.
Twenty-eight Chinese groups (landscape architects, landscape horticulturists, college students, male and female middle school students, male and female rural and urban primary school students, workers and farmers) and one Western expert group (Harvard design graduate students) were invited to rate 50 scenes from a Chinese national park. Correlation and factor analyses were used to investigate the general relationship among these groups. Overlapped scattergrams were used to specify cross-cultural and sub-cultural variance based on preference levels of individual scenes. As expected, landscape preference is significantly influenced by the cultural backgrounds of the subjects, though different cultural factors vary in their weight on such influence, and these influences are related to landscape types. Findings from this study point towards the following conclusions. (1) Living environment (urban vs. rural) is a powerful predictor of variance in landscape preference, and high preference among rural subjects for novelty and modernity (tourism service scenes) can be explained by their lack of experience with such landscapes and their utilitarian interest. (2) General education level instead of landscape expertise, combined with environmental experience, can significantly influence landscape preference. (3) The influences of macrocultural difference (Chinese vs. Westerners), and of expertise education in landscape (experts vs. public), are unexpectedly very weak, and their influence on landscape preference could be overridden by the two factors above (living environment and general education level). However, for some specific Chinese landscapes, macro-cultural differences do occur because the ‘foreigners’ lack the knowledge of cultural meanings embodied in the landscapes. Experts (both Chinese and Westerners) do show their unique preferences in some specific cases, such as their extreme negative reaction to tourism services and extreme positive reaction to water and rocky scenes in cold and foggy weather. (4) Utilitarian interest can greatly bias landscape preference. Farmers' interest in agricultural production and daily farm work may contribute to their negative reaction to water-dominated and misty rocky scenes in bad weather. (5) Sex has no significant influence on landscape preference, although some difference on specific landscapes (the water-dominated scenes) appears in some cases. (6) Last but not least, this research suggests that most previous findings based on Westerners' landscape preference correlate well with those of reasonably welleducated or highly educated urban Chinese, but not with those of the less well-educated rural Chinese.
Migration from and to depopulating areas is related to the prospects for rural economic regeneration. The focus is on whether or not migration processes give rise to the necessary human capital required for successful endogenous development. Data from Scottish case studies pertaining to in-, out- and return migrants are analysed. Only by leaving rural areas can young adults acquire the necessary skills to participate in endogenous development, however, few out-migrants subsequently return. In-migrants, while often possessing the necessary human capital to bring about an economic regeneration, are associated with relatively little new job creation. Instead in-migration is characterised by self-employment. It is argued that migration is a pre-requisite for rural economic regeneration, but that a rural endogenous development policy on its own will have limited success in regenerating areas experiencing on-going depopulation. Exogenous development strategies are also required.
This paper examines the demographic and economic impacts associated with the repopulation of rural Scotland. It incorporates data obtained from a household survey and qualitative interviews. Possible threats include increased competition in all housing sectors and changes in the composition of rural communities. It is argued that these changes are not solely caused by in-migration, but that in-migration is itself a product of national and global advancement. Any assessment of migration impacts needs to be viewed within the context of rural restructuring — a view which is taken in this analysis. Using this approach it is concluded that rural in-migration is associated with many opportunities (employment creation and prospects for increased rural expenditure). However, these economic opportunities have yet to be fully realised for the benefit of rural Scotland.
This study of recent rural (nonmetropolitan) migration in the U.S. finds that, consistent with research on landscape preferences, people have been most drawn to areas with a mix of forest and open land, water area, topographical variation, and relatively little cropland. A simultaneous equation model of 1990–2000 change in jobs and net migration indicates that landscape features influenced migration directly, not through effects on employment. An inordinate rise in housing values in the most highly scenic areas in 1990–2000 was associated with an exceptional slowing of migration to those areas in 2000–2005, an indication that housing supply constraints such as land use regulation may now be dampening the ties between landscape preferences and migration in rural areas. The study findings on current habitat selection are particularly interesting given the frequent conjecture that landscape preferences are adaptive, reflecting the most suitable habitats for early man.
Does the widely documented tendency to prefer natural over built environments owe to the perception of greater restorative potential in natural environments? In the present experimental study we tested the mediating role of restoration in environmental preferences. Participants viewed a frightening movie, and then were shown a video of either a natural or a built environment. We used two examples of each type of environment. Participants’ mood ratings were assessed before and after they viewed the frightening movie, and again after viewing the environmental video. Participants also rated the beauty of the environment shown (to indicate preference) and performed a test of concentration after viewing the environmental video. The results indicate that participants perceived the natural environments as more beautiful than the built environments. In addition, viewing natural environments elicited greater improvement in mood and marginally better concentration than viewing built environments. Mediational analyses revealed that affective restoration accounted for a substantial proportion of the preference for the natural over the built environments. Together, these results help substantiate the adaptive function of people's environmental preferences.
An attractive environment is likely to influence house prices. Houses in attractive settings will have an added value over similar, less favourably located houses. This effect is intuitively felt, but does it always occur? Which environmental factors make a location an attractive place to live in? The present study explored the effect of different environmental factors on house prices. The research method was the hedonic pricing method, which uses statistical analysis to estimate that part of a price due to a particular attribute. Nearly 3000 house transactions, in eight towns or regions in the Netherlands, were studied to estimate the effect of environmental attributes on transaction prices. Some of the most salient results were as follows. We found the largest increases in house prices due to environmental factors (up to 28%) for houses with a garden facing water, which is connected to a sizeable lake. We were also able to demonstrate that a pleasant view can lead to a considerable increase in house price, particularly if the house overlooks water (8–10%) or open space (6–12%). In addition, the analysis revealed that house price varies by landscape type. Attractive landscape types were shown to attract a premium of 5–12% over less attractive environmental settings.
This is the second of two papers concerned with understanding the causes and consequences of middle class presence in rural areas. This paper draws on the notion of an interpretative approach to class analysis as outlined in the first paper and, in particular, addresses the issues of power, difference and identity discussed, in a theoretical manner, in that paper. The focus of this paper is, however, more substantive in that it draws on research conducted in five rural areas of Britain as part of two research projects. The paper is structured into three parts. The first outlines the nature of the research projects and the forms of research conducted within them. The second part of the paper explores the issue of whether there are significant class differences within the middle class, and indeed within the service class. Attention is drawn to how the class classifications of John Goldthorpe and Erik Wright appear to cross-cut each other in ways which are suggestive of the presence of what may be termed a ‘service proletariat’. The significance of gender and other lines of social differentiation within the formation, as well as fractionalisation, of class relations is highlighted. The third part of the paper addresses the inter-relations between socio-economically established differences and those constructed through notions of culture and morality. It is argued that rural residents commonly evaluate people and places through notions of cultural competence and morality, as well as through constructions of socio-economic differences. The roles of both general and localised/ruralised constructions of cultural and moral differences are highlighted, as is the way that these constructions are used to contest, symbolically at least, the socio-economic construction of difference.
Some regions in The Netherlands have been experiencing population decline in the last decade(s). Although decline figures are much lower than in more traditional areas of decline in Europe, Dutch planners and policy-makers feel the need to develop several strategies of planning for decline. This paper gives an overview of regional population trends in the Netherlands up to 2040, showing that at the regional level, population growth and decline can occur next to each other in both urban and rural areas. The number of single-person households is expected to continue growing. However, single households form a varied group, and population trends differ substantially between urban and rural areas. The strategies applied by policy-makers who focus, so far, on accommodating decline through measures on the housing market are analysed. Next to this, some additional policy alternatives are discussed. Copyright (c) 2010 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.
De afgelopen vijftig jaar is er veel veranderd op het Nederlandse en West-Europese platteland. In het multidisciplinaire onderzoeksveld van rurale studies worden twee specifieke veranderingsprocessen onderscheiden, namelijk de trek naar buiten en de afnemende rol van de landbouw in het landelijk gebied. Onder de trek naar buiten vallen zowel processen van suburbanisatie als de toenemende belangstelling van recreanten, toeristen, bedrijven en natuurorganisaties voor het platteland. De afnemende rol van de landbouw komt tot uiting in de integratie van de agrarische sector in de wijdere economie en in de afname van de werkgelegenheid in de landbouw en van de politieke macht van de landbouw. De geschetste veranderingsprocessen manifesteren zich op twee manieren. De eerste uitingsvorm heeft betrekking op de veranderingen in de functies van platteland. Het belang van bepaalde functies van platteland, zoals wonen, recreatie en toerisme, natuur- en landschapsbehoud en natuurontwikkeling, is toegenomen. Ook is de betekenis van de traditionele functies zoals landbouw en bosbouw uitgebreid van louter de productie van voedsel en hout naar het bieden van een décor voor consumptiefuncties, zoals wonen en recreatie. De veranderingen in de functies van platteland worden wel samengevat als de verschuiving van productie-platteland naar consumptie- of post-productie platteland. ... Zie: Samenvatting
De dialectiek van cultuur en economie vervult een belangrijke rol in het sociaal-wetenschappelijk denken en de geschiedenis daarvan. Zowel de grenzen tussen disciplines als veel theoretisch denken binnen die disciplines zijn sterk beinvloed door de tegenstelling tussen cultuur en economie. Om die reden is in dit onderzoek die tegenstelling tegen het licht gehouden. De relevante begrippen en de belangrijkste theorieen over relaties tussen economie en cultuur zijn geanalyseerd. Een aantal van die theorieen is ook getoetst; deels aan de hand van een nieuwe meting van regionale cultuurverschillen (op gemeenteniveau) in Nederland. Gebleken is dat de meeste theorieen niet of nauwelijks empirisch te verifieren zijn. Er lijkt weliswaar sprake van invloed van welvaart op bepaalde culturele verschijnselen (met name individualisme en post-materialisme), maar de veronderstelde invloeden van cultuur op ondernemersgedrag en van ondernemerschap op economische groei zijn onbevestigd. Bovendien blijkt uit analyse van de theorien zelf dat een groot deel daarvan nauwelijks als een wetenschappelijke theorie beschouwd kan worden. Naast theoretische conclusies zijn er in dit onderzoek mede daarom ook 'meta-theoretische' conclusies getrokken. De belangrijkste daarvan betreffen het belang van conceptueel onderzoek in de sociale wetenschappen en een pleidooi voor anarchistische wetenschap.
Rural areas in the Netherlands are changing from an agricultural production space to a multifunctional consumption space. Consumption activities such as recreation, tourism, nature conservation and landscape protection have been introduced and consequently expanded. Housing can also be considered a new function of the countryside. In the highly urbanised Netherlands, however, spatial planning policy aims to protect the countryside from further urbanisation. The supply of rural housing therefore seems to lag behind the demand. In this context of housing and spatial planning, it is important to gain insight into rural residential preferences. To what extent do urban households prefer a rural residential environment? And what exactly are they looking for? In the Netherlands, little research has been undertaken on the importance of specific characteristics of the rural residential environment. This study is an investigation of the demand for rural living and the desired attributes of rural residential environments. Another aspect which had received little attention from researchers so far is whether these desired attributes should be regarded as preferences or prerequisites. In other words: how are the attributes valued? The preferences for rural living will be linked with images and representations of the countryside. It is assumed that individual images of the countryside (whether idyllic or not) affect residential preferences and these preferences have, in turn, their effect on migration behaviour. Empirical evidence suggests that countryside images and preferences for moving to rural residential environments are indeed inter-related. The Dutch countryside commands a very positive image and the demand for residential environments with rural characteristics is considerable. Gaining an insight into the demand of urban residents for rural living and into the role of images of the countryside constitute the main aims of this study. In addition, it seeks to find out how and to what extent suppliers in the housing market make use of this these images and this demand.
The main objective of this study is to gain insight into the ability of protected natural areas to attract new residential activity and in the role they play in the enhancement of the quality of life of local rural residents. To understand these processes information was collected on the characteristics of households that were living in or directly adjacent to protected natural areas and their behavioral responses to the presence of protected nature. The assessment by local people of the presence of protected nature in their residential environment was also taken into consideration. The principle conclusion of the empirical research of this study is that the presence of a protected natural area or the quality of the physical environment, which is enhanced by the presence of a protected natural area, are important reasons to select such an area as a new place to live. Motives related to the quality of the physical environment were also most frequently mentioned reasons for residential satisfaction in the study areas. The composition of the population group that had recently moved towards protected natural areas was distinctive. Early retirement, higher education, self-employment and commuting were overrepresented characteristics in the incomers population of the study areas, in comparison with incomers in other adjacent rural areas. Striking similarities were also found in household characteristics, appreciation and behavioural response to protected nature between incomers in the Dutch and British case study areas. This also applied to household characteristics of second home residents in the Spanish case study area as compared to incomers of the Dutch and British study areas. In addition, clear differences in residential choice motivations between Dutch, British and Spanish study populations were also detected, which could be connected to differences in perceptions of the concepts rural and natural and the specific regional and national settings. The research results further indicate that under influence of societal changes, household behaviour will be driven by the wish to use rural areas for consumption orientated activities in which the specific endogenous qualities of rural areas, such as natural amenities, play an important role. The explanation of the overall strong appreciation of protected nature in the residential environment should be sought in the notion that nature contributes to the quality of the living environment and therefore to the personal quality of life. The protection measures that are inherent to the protection regime of designated areas did however restrict or reduce the appreciation of protected nature in the residential environment. Especially in the English and Spanish case study areas this caused a more critical posture towards the presence of protected nature or more specifically towards the side effects of the protection status of the area.
The change from depopulation to population increase in the more remote rural areas of England is analyzed using data from a survey of 300 households in North Devon. The heterogeneous nature of the migrants and their reasons for migration are stressed. "The reasons for leaving the former area of residence tended to relate to lifestyle, personal or environmental factors whereas the reasons for choosing North Devon were more often about jobs and house prices. This complexity and diversity clearly makes difficult the quest for a single theory of the repopulation process."
"This paper...argues that a reconciliation between...different explanations of counterurbanization can possibly be achieved, but will require the pursuit of a more nuanced analysis of the detailed unfolding of the migration process. Such an analysis involves examining the migration from the migrant's perspective. In particular, we need to recognize the variety of both spatial scales and experiential environments that may be involved in any one act of migration." The geographic focus is on England.
"The term counterurbanisation is frequently used to describe the redistribution of a population away from major cities and metropolitan areas and towards more rural areas. The widespread nature of this phenomenon has attracted much attention, yet the concept remains relatively under-developed, and even the basic definition lacks rigour. It is not surprising, therefore, that there has been a lack of cumulative evidence as to the extent of the process and little agreement as to its significance. In essence, ambiguity surrounds the types of movement that should be admitted, the necessary motives for movement and the appropriate measures for both. This paper offers some preliminary suggestions for a more structured approach to the problem. It draws on original survey data from Devon [England], a county which has experienced substantial net in-migration, both to examine the contribution of three alternative definitions of counterurbanisation and to consider how these issues relate to motivation."