RURAL STUDY

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RURAL STUDY
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• Aims
• To understand the difference between urban and
  rural environments.
• To understand the reasons for rural poverty and
  the cycle deprivation.
• To understand the processes of diversification
  within the rural economy.
• To assess the rurality of settlements and the
  extent to which they act as suburbs to Norwich.

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SO WHAT IS A RURAL AREA?

• The less densely populated parts of a country,
  which can be distinguished by their visual
  countryside components. Clout 1972.
• ECONOMIC - High dependence on agriculture.
• SOCIAL and DEMOGRAPHIC - country living, low
  population densities and small settlement size.
• GEOGRAPHICAL - remoteness from urban areas.

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SO HOW CAN WE DEFINE A RURAL AREA?

• Settlement size.
• Land use.
• Employment.
• Service Provisions.
• Social character.

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SETTLEMENT SIZE/POPULATION DENSITY

• The classification of settlements into a set of
  levels or orders, according to their size and
  functional range. Prosser, Raw Bishop, 2000.
• Megalopolis
• Conurbation.
• City.
• Large Town.
• Small Town.
• Village.
• Hamlet
• Isolated.

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LAND USE

• A rural environment is ...an area where the main
  economic activities and settlement patterns are
  related to agriculture. Prosser, Raw Bishop,
  2000.
• In the UK, there are more land uses in rural
  areas than just agriculture, e.g. forestry,
  recreation, landfill sites, transport links,
  military training grounds etc.

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• Conflicting land uses mean that there is a need
  for careful and sustainable rural management.
• North Norfolk District Council has a policy that
  only allows development within the countryside if
  it falls within certain categories of land use,
  e.g. agriculture, changes to listed buildings,
  affordable housing, coastal and flood protection,
  community services and facilities, etc.

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EMPLOYMENT

• Rural settlements may be defined as those where
  most of the workforce is related to agriculture
  and other primary industries.
• Urban areas are where the workforce is employed
  in secondary and tertiary industries.

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SERVICE PROVISIONS

• Rural areas may lack shops, schools, hospitals,
  public transport and banks.
• In 1997 83 of Parishes had no doctor.
• 49 had no school.
• 43 had no post office.
• 42 had no shop.

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This is called the RANK SIZE RULE. It states
that there appears to be a relationship between
size of population and the range of services in
that settlement. (i.e. the greater the
population the greater the range of services).
Source Nagle, P. (2000) Advanced Geography.
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SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• Rural areas have an increased population in the
  65 age group.
• This is due to younger people moving away for
  employment security.
• The largest proportion of people moving out of
  Norfolk are young adults, BUT young families are
  moving to rural areas to bring up children.

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All these factors to lead
conflict.......
Service Provision
Land Use
Settlement Size
Employment
Social Character
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PROBLEMS

• Increasingly difficult to differentiate between
  rural and urban areas.
• Increase in urban/rural fringe leads to
  environmental problems e.g. air pollution, water
  supply, waste disposal.
• Conflicts in planning policy.
• 50 of the worlds population lives in rural
  areas, which cover the majority of the Worlds
  land. Therefore, the future of the planet will
  depend on what happens in these areas.

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Settlement Patterns Caused by Sub-urbanisation
and an Increase in Commuting.
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SUSTAINABILITY

• Looking after the needs of today without
  compromising the needs of future generations
  Brundtland, 1987.
• Needs to have economic, social and environmental
  dimensions.
• ECONOMIC - involve short timescales.
• SOCIAL - on a medium timescale.
• ENVIRONMENTAL - have to based on an understanding
  of long-term processes.

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STAKEHOLDERS GATEKEEPERS

• The interactions between the 3 dimensions of
  sustainability work within a political context
  e.g the values, priorities and policies of the
  main STAKEHOLDERS and GATEKEEPERS.
• GATEKEEPERS A group or organisation with
  authority or degree of responsibility e.g Local
  Authorities, Environment Agency, landowners.

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Approx. 85 of UK land is agricultural and is
owned by 200,000 families.3 of the 200,000
families own 27 of the UK land.
Top Landowners in Britain by Acreage.
Source Daily Mail, December 29th 2001.
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• STAKEHOLDERS - A group or organisation with a
  direct interest in a particular resource or
  issue, e.g. Ramblers, RSPB, individuals.
• Evidence shows that a high proportion of the
  population has an interest in the countryside and
  may be classed as stakeholders.
• In 1996 1.3 billion day trips into the
  countryside were made.
• 60 of the population used the countryside for
  recreation.
• 18 of the UK population live in rural areas.
• 60 of the Norfolk population live in rural
  areas.
• The number of stakeholders is increasing as
  people become more aware of the value of rural
  areas as a place to live and visit.
• Therefore, decision making must involve all
  parties to avoid conflicts.

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CHANGING RURAL BRITAIN

• The environment tends to change in a period of
  gradual change with short bursts of accelerated
  change. In the last 50 years rural Britain has
  been experiencing on such surge due to
• Modernisation of agriculture - intensification,
  GM crops, hi-tech, specialisation, pick-your-own.
• Decentralisation of cities - better transport
  link, the Internet.
• Redistribution of economic activity - out of town
  shopping centres, science parks, out of town
  office parks.

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• These changes have lead to migration. This in
  turn has had an impact on communities.
• The decline of communities is mainly due to
  second homes, growth of commuter belts and a
  decline in farming.

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• Agricultural change has been caused by 2 further
  factors
• Increases in dairy farming, greater profit from
  growing cereals and increased potato production.
• Weaknesses in planning policy, meaning meadows
  have been lost to urban development.

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• More than 122,000 ha of grassland have been
  lost since 1992. This is the equivalent of about
  100 football pitches a day, according to the
  CPRE from The Guardian, March 15th 1999.

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GOVERNMENT EU POLICIES

• Phase 1 1945 to 1985 - A production and
  rationalisation phase.
• Intensification, mechanisation and specialisation
  of agriculture led to over production of food.
• Movement of population and economic activity
  which has lead to a restructured rural-urban
  relationship. E.g. rural industrial site.

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• Phase 2 1985 - A diversification and
  conservation phase.
• Diversification of farming.
• Restructure of agriculture.
• Clean up the environment.
• Conserve landscapes.
• Control urban growth.
• Gatekeepers controlled phase 1.
• Stakeholders controlling phase 2.

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STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL AREAS

• Rural White Paper published in November 2000.
  It aims to address problems within rural areas
  and offer solutions.
• Aims
• Living countryside.
• Working countryside.
• Protected countryside.
• Vibrant countryside.

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RURAL WHITE PAPER

• 4 main strategies
• Community Service Fund.
• Housing Corporation Rural Programme.
• Parish Fund.
• England Rural Development Programme
• A) Vocational training schemes.
• B) Rural enterprise scheme.
• C) Energy crops.
• D) Woodland grants.

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• Hopefully these policies will lead to a better
  quality of life for
• Country residents.
• Rural businesses.
• Farmers.
• Everyone.