Introduction to Rural Planning: Economies, Communities and Landscapes provides a critical analysis of the key challenges facing rural places and the ways that public policy and community action shape rural spaces. The second edition provides an examination of the composite nature of 'rural planning', which combines land-use and spatial planning elements with community action, countryside management and the projects and programmes of national and supra-national agencies and organisations. It also offers a broad analysis of entrepreneurial social action as a shaper of rural outcomes, with particular coverage of the localism agenda and Neighbourhood Planning in England. With a focus on accessibility and rural transport provision, this book examines the governance arrangements needed to deliver integrated solutions spanning urban and rural places. Through an examination of the ecosystem approach to environmental planning, it links the procurement of ecosystem services to the global challenges of habitat degradation and loss, climate change and resource scarcity and management. A valuable resource for students of planning, rural development and rural geography, Introduction to Rural Planning aims to make sense of current rural challenges and planning approaches, evaluating the currency of the 'rural' label in the context of global urbanisation, arguing that rural spaces are relational spaces characterised by critical production and consumption tensions.

Introduction to Rural Planning: Economies, Communities and Landscapes provides a critical analysis of the key challenges facing rural places and the ways that public policy and community action shape rural spaces. The second edition provides an examination of the composite nature of 'rural planning', which combines land-use and spatial planning elements with community action, countryside management and the projects and programmes of national and supra-national agencies and organisations. It also offers a broad analysis of entrepreneurial social action as a shaper of rural outcomes, with particular coverage of the localism agenda and Neighbourhood Planning in England. With a focus on accessibility and rural transport provision, this book examines the governance arrangements needed to deliver integrated solutions spanning urban and rural places. Through an examination of the ecosystem approach to environmental planning, it links the procurement of ecosystem services to the global challenges of habitat degradation and loss, climate change and resource scarcity and management. A valuable resource for students of planning, rural development and rural geography, Introduction to Rural Planning aims to make sense of current rural challenges and planning approaches, evaluating the currency of the 'rural' label in the context of global urbanisation, arguing that rural spaces are relational spaces characterised by critical production and consumption tensions.

First published in 1965, this reissue is a report on the Second Rehovoth Conference of August 1963, convened by the then Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Abba Eban, in order to enable the scientists and political leaders of developing countries to establish meaningful communication on the overall topic of comprehensive planning of agriculture in developing countries. Conference discussions centred on the three main topics of; agricultural planning and rural development; the human factor in agricultural development; and agricultural research, extension, and education.

The LEADER programme, initiated in 1991, aims to improve the development potential of rural areas in the European Union by drawing on local initiatives and skills. Highlighting this unique policy approach, this book presents up-to-date research results on LEADER's achievements and restrictions at the local level in a comparative way in order to discuss its merits and problems. What makes LEADER important is not only that it has a major role in rural development efforts, but also that it has a pioneering role in the new type of governance, participatory democracy. Asking whether LEADER strengthens local democracy or not, this book also looks at how it affects the power balance among stakeholders, between national and local actors and between genders. It questions whether LEADER projects are genuinely grass-root level activities, reflecting local needs and ideals; and if the approach brings local know-how back onto the development agenda in innovations and development activities. Finally, the authors examine the success of dissemination of knowledge within the LEADER programme to other regions.

This book, first published in 1983, provided the first thorough and informative introduction to the theory, practice and politics of rural settlement planning. It surveys the conceptual and ideological leanings of those who have developed, implemented and revised rural settlement practice, and gives detailed analysis of planning documentation to assess the extent to which policies have been successfully implemented. Paul Cloke assesses the shortfalls of rural planning and resource management and suggests methods by which a sustainable rural future might be attained. This reissue provides essential background and a comprehensive handbook for those with an interest in rural settlement planning.

How can municipalities in Central Europe create favourable conditions for local business? What and how can municipalities learn from each other? How can each individual in the local area contribute? And what requirements have to be met before know-how can successfully be transferred on a communal level? To answer all these questions, the authors of this book draw on results from a six-year research programme and comprehensively discuss the manifold opportunities, restrictions and prerequisites of establishing favourable conditions for small and medium enterprises in rural municipalities in Central Europe.

New twenty-first century economic, social and environmental changes have challenged and reshaped rural Australia. They range from ageing populations, youth out-migration, immigration policies (that seek to place skilled migrants in rural Australia), tree changers, agricultural restructuring and new relationships with indigenous populations. Challenges also exist around the 'patchwork economy' and the wealth that the mining boom offers some areas, while threatening regional economic decline in others. Rural Australia is increasingly not simply a place of production of agriculture and minerals but an idea that individuals seek and are encouraged to consume. The socio-economic implications of drought, water rights and changing farming practices, have prefaced new social, cultural and economic reforms. This book provides a contemporary perspective on rapidly evolving population, economic and environmental changes in 'rural and regional Australia', itself a significant concept. Bringing together a range of empirical studies, the book builds on established rural studies themes such as population change, economic restructuring and globalisation in agriculture but links such changes to environmental change, culture, class, gender, and ethnic diversity. Presenting original and in-depth interventions on these issues and their intersections, this book assembles the best of contemporary research on rural Australia.

Rapid changes in energy production and consumption are having major socioeconomic implications for the communities of rural America. Technological developments in horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) nuclear energy, biofuels, wind and solar energy have significantly increased domestic energy production and the production of energy from renewable sources has encouraged energy efficiency. Yet, severe concerns persist and policy decisions on energy issues will have profound implications for all Americans and rural communities where consequences are experienced most directly. Thus, the time is appropriate for a careful exploration of the socioeconomic implications of our energy future. The purpose of this book is to present timely and scientifically sound information on energy policy, socioeconomic aspects of energy production and consumption with a focus on rural areas. The book presents the latest research by top scholars with the goal of clarifying options and providing the basis for informed policy decisions.

This book presents fourteen original contributions by authors examining the importance of dwellings and local communities in people's everyday lives. Through qualitative research conducted in North America and Europe, the volume explores the ways in which home is created both ideally and practically, at levels ranging from individual housing units to neighborhoods and public spaces. Even when the circumstances of making one's home deviate from cultural ideals - for instance, in crowded, institutional, or stigmatized housing contexts, in disadvantaged or transient neighborhoods, or when one has no permanent dwelling at all - the authors illuminate how experiences and practices of home are central to what it means to be human.

This title combines the concept, practice and application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) in a comprehensive manner. The author views PRA as a means of opening up new ways of approaching various problems within the development process. He defines it as a growing body of methods to enable local people to share, enhance and analyse their knowledge of life and conditions in order to plan, act, monitor and evaluate their actions. The basic premise of PRA is that poor and marginalized people are capable of analysing their own realities and that they should be enabled to do so.;The book provides examples from experiences, material with directions for use, as well as possibilities for innovation. It contains insight from actual practice in the field, and contains useful tips on the best practices which readers and practitioners should find valuable.;The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 deals with the concept of participation and explores its multiple dimensions. Parts 2 and 3 deal with the methods of PRA. Each method is explained with an introduction, applications, examples, a process outlining the steps, the time and material required, and the advantages and limitations of

This book, first published in 1983, provided the first thorough and informative introduction to the theory, practice and politics of rural settlement planning. It surveys the conceptual and ideological leanings of those who have developed, implemented and revised rural settlement practice, and gives detailed analysis of planning documentation to assess the extent to which policies have been successfully implemented. Paul Cloke assesses the shortfalls of rural planning and resource management and suggests methods by which a sustainable rural future might be attained. This reissue provides essential background and a comprehensive handbook for those with an interest in rural settlement planning.

The problems of providing essential services in a constrained economic climate, and of conserving the rural environment whilst protecting rural people, are of immediate importance. This book, first published in 1979, was the first major piece of published research on the topic of rural settlement planning. It examines in detail the history and theory behind key settlement policies, and their practical application within the British rural planning system. Using Warwickshire and Devon as two very different case studies, Paul Cloke measures the outcome of settlement planning and discusses the wider implications of the 'concentration-dispersal' debate. This reissue will provide essential background for students of rural and social geography, and rural sociology and economics.

This edited collection, first published in 1989, provides a detailed analysis of rural land-use policies on a country-specific basis. Case studies include analyses of planning and legislation in Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, the U.S.A. and Australia. Alongside a comprehensive overview of the concept and application of rural land use from Paul Cloke, environment issues, resource management and the role of central governments are topics under discussion throughout. At an international level, this title will of particular interest to students of rural geography and environmental planning.

How do we create more economic opportunities in the low-income communities of the developing world? How can these communities build greater resilience against economic uncertainties, natural disasters, wars, and the growing threats of climate change? This book reviews the research literature of economic development in low-income communities of the developing world-from rural villages to neighborhoods in the largest cities on earth. This book is unique in gathering, organizing, and synthesizing research on economic development at the community level, across the developing world, drawing from multiple disciplines, publications, methodologies, regions, and countries. Part I provides an overview and context of the many challenges facing the developing world today, as well as the often-heated debates over what "development" is and how to make it happen. Part II reviews the extensive research literature in major fields of community economic development including education and human capital, overcoming the "curse of natural resources," entrepreneurship and micro-finance, tourism, and sustainability. The audience includes undergraduate students interested in development and sustainability, graduate students and other young researchers in a wide range of disciplines who are finding their own focuses, and established researchers who wish to expand their agendas. An expanded bibliography accompanies the book as a downloadable supplement.

Interest in the special problems of rural areas and concern with rural development in general have increased substantially throughout much of the world in the years since about 1960. Attesting to this has been the dramatic increase in attention to rural problems in the scholarly and popular literature and by government agencies. At first the dominant focus was on development projects and the creation of new jobs. It was not long, however, until other related issues came to the fore, in particular the availability and quality of public services essential to achieve economic growth and improvement and having a direct bearing on the well-being of rural peoples. Most nations of the world have developed plans and launched pro-jects to improve rural public services and narrow urban-rural dif-ferentials in their provision. As one would expect, there have been great differences between nations in the severity of problems, foci of attention, program strategies and their general effectiveness, and degree of commitment and effort. Given this diversity, it seems ap-propriate to examine and compare rural service problems and efforts to ameliorate them in a sample of contrasting societies. Implicit is the conviction that (1) all nations can learn at least something from the experiences of others, and (2) by taking an international, com-parative view of the subject, certain generalizations can be established.

Balancing the Commons in Switzerland outlines continuity and change in the management of common-pool resources such as pastures and forests in Switzerland. The book focuses on the differences and similarities between local institutions (rules and regulations) and forms of commoners' organisations (corporations of citizens and corporations) which have managed common property for several centuries and have shaped the cultural landscapes of Switzerland. At the core of the book are five case studies from the German, French and Italian speaking regions of Switzerland. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages and focusing on the transformative periods in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it traces the internal and external political, economic and societal changes and examines what impact these changes had on commoners. It goes beyond the work of Robert Netting and Elinor Ostrom, who discussed Swiss commons as a unique case of robustness, by analysing how local commoners reacted to, but also shaped, changes by adapting and transforming common property institutions. Thus, the volume highlights how institutional changes in the management of the commons at the local level are embedded in the public policies of the respective cantons, and the state, which generates a high heterogeneity and an actual laboratory situation. It shows the power relations and very different routes that local collective organisations and their members have followed in order to cope with the loss of value of the commons and the increased workload for maintaining common property management. Providing insightful case studies of commons management, this volume delivers theoretical contributions and lessons to be learned for the commons worldwide. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the commons, natural resource management and agricultural development.

In the wake of BSE, the threat to ban fox hunting and Foot and Mouth disease, the English countryside appears to be in turmoil. Long-standing uses of rural space are in crisis and, unsurprisingly, political processes in rural areas are marked by conflicts between groups, such as farmers, environmentalists, developers and local residents. Using an innovative theoretical approach based on 'networks of conventions', this book investigates the 'regionalisation' of the English countryside through a series of case-studies. These studies are based on a set of 'ideal types': 'the preserved' countryside, where environmental pressures are strongly expressed; the 'contested' countryside, where development processes are shaped by disputes between agrarian and environmental interests; and the 'paternalistic' countryside, where large landowners continue to oversee patterns of land development. It looks in detail at landowners, residents, politicians, planners, farmers, and environmentalists and shows how these groups compete. The Differentiated Countryside argues that the countryside is increasingly governed by regional policies. It becomes hard to discern a single English countryside; we see the emergence of multiple countrysides, places where diverse modes of identity are expressed and differing forms of development take place. Such diversity, it is argued, now lies at the heart of rural England.

Policing reveals much about rural society. It refers to the way that the police, the public and other agencies regulate themselves and each other according to the dominant ideals of society. This can be formally, through the ever-growing spectrum of policing partnerships in neo-liberal countries, or informally, through the performance and enforcement of moral codes and values. This book draws on international inter-disciplinary perspectives to examine the range and consequences of policing across different rural localities. Rural Policing and Policing the Rural is organised into two sections: the first examines who is policing rural areas, while the second examines the nature of rural policing by considering, on the one hand, the policing of rural space and, on the other, how ideas of rurality are regulated. In doing so this book provides a survey of rural policing that will be valuable to academics, students, policy makers and those policing rural places.

Participatory Rural Planning presents the argument that citizen participation in planning affairs transcends a rights-based legitimacy and an all too frequent perception of being mere consultation. Rather, it is part of a social learning process that can enhance the prospects for successful implementation, provide opportunity for reflection and create a mutuality of respect between different stakeholders in the planning arena. Accordingly, Michael Murray signposts what can work well and what should work differently in regard to participatory planning by taking rural Ireland as the empirical laboratory and exploring the Irish experience at different spatial scales from the village, through to the locality, the sub regional and the regional levels.

At a time when there is major reorientation of rural economies in Europe, and the emergence of new possibilities both for governance and for conflict, this book brings together a group of leading academics in the fields of geography, sociology and anthropology to examine how such changes are taking place in the west of Europe. It describes, analyses and theorises the role of networks and social capital in rural development in six countries: Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Sweden, and addresses the tension between studying 'local' rural development and the 'globalized' nature of modern economies and societies. An approach to networks and social capital is used as a way of drawing attention to the non-economic dimensions of rural development and society. The book stresses that the links between society and economics are of key importance.

Access to quality services and community infrastructure are vital parts of supporting sustainable and resilient rural and small town places. Renewing outdated infrastructure and supporting the delivery of services in rural communities present significant challenges from the constrained fiscal and policy realities of the 21st century. Drawing upon contributors from five Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, this book describes innovative service delivery and community infrastructure models that are appropriate to the contemporary rural and resource-dependent regions of developed economies. The examples show that an entrepreneurial approach to service delivery and infrastructure provision by local organizations and governments is needed. Critical economic and community development supports are crucial to assist creative and innovative sets of solutions that work for small communities. Chapters in this book argue that community development foundations for resilient rural and small town communities and regions must be co-constructed and co-delivered in partnership by both local and senior government actors, in terms of both policy and committed resources. This volume will be extremely valuable for students, scholars, and community development practitioners exploring policy-making, government initiatives, and community service provision in rural and small town places.

Most land in the United States is in rural areas, as are the sources of most of its fresh water and almost all its other natural resources. One of the first books to approach resource economics and rural studies as fundamentally interconnected areas of study, Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics integrates the work of 18 leading scholars in resource economics, rural economics, rural sociology and political science in order to focus on two complex interdependencies-one pertaining to natural resources and human welfare, the other to urban and rural communities and their economies. The book reviews the past 50 years of scholarship in both natural resource and rural economics. It contrasts their different intellectual and practical approaches and considers how they might be refocused in light of pressing demands on human and natural systems. It then proposes a 'new rural economics' that acknowledges the full range of human-ecosystem and urban-rural interdependencies. It explores the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, and considers the prospects for amenity-driven growth that would benefit both new and traditional inhabitants of rural areas. Later chapters explore the politics of place, spatial economics, strategies for reducing rural poverty, and prospects for linking rural and environmental governance. Throughout, the book emphasizes innovative research methods that integrate natural resource, environmental, and rural economics.

Most land in the United States is in rural areas, as are the sources of most of its fresh water and almost all its other natural resources. One of the first books to approach resource economics and rural studies as fundamentally interconnected areas of study, Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics integrates the work of 18 leading scholars in resource economics, rural economics, rural sociology and political science in order to focus on two complex interdependencies-one pertaining to natural resources and human welfare, the other to urban and rural communities and their economies. The book reviews the past 50 years of scholarship in both natural resource and rural economics. It contrasts their different intellectual and practical approaches and considers how they might be refocused in light of pressing demands on human and natural systems. It then proposes a 'new rural economics' that acknowledges the full range of human-ecosystem and urban-rural interdependencies. It explores the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, and considers the prospects for amenity-driven growth that would benefit both new and traditional inhabitants of rural areas. Later chapters explore the politics of place, spatial economics, strategies for reducing rural poverty, and prospects for linking rural and environmental governance. Throughout, the book emphasizes innovative research methods that integrate natural resource, environmental, and rural economics.

There are more than 450 Moshavim settlements and about 270 kibbutzim in Israel. While there is a range of communal and cooperative kibbutz movements, all with slight ideological differences, they are all collective rural communities, based on an ideal to create a social utopian settlement. Placing the kibbutz within the wider context of utopian social ideals and how they have historically been physically and architecturally constructed, this book discusses the form of the 'ideal settlement' as an integral part and means for realizing a utopian doctrine. It presents an analysis of physical planning in the kibbutz through the past eight decades and how changes in ideology are reflected in changes in layout and aesthetics. In doing so, this book shows how a utopian settlement organization behaves over time, from their first appearance in 1920 on, to an examination of the current spatial layouts and the directions of their expected future development.

In recent decades, the responsibility for initiating regeneration programmes has been placed firmly in the hands of rural communities, with the rationale being that local people are best placed to know their own problems and, consequently, to develop their own solutions. Despite the popularity of this approach, the self-help approach has its own problems and can be seen as an attempt by governments to reduce public spending. This book provides a critical account of the discourses and practices of self-help in contemporary rural development policies of Australia and other western nations. Although it examines the problems of the self-help approach, it moves beyond a straightforward exposition of the impediments to self-help. Instead, taking a Foucauldian governmentality perspective, it puts forward a theoretical analysis of the self-help concept, assessing it as a means of governing rural development in an advanced liberal manner. It argues that self-help should not be regarded as either the empowerment or the abandonment of rural citizens by a shrinking state, but rather the application of new ways of thinking about and acting upon rural development.