Internet Access in Rural Areas: Brake or Stimulus as Post-Covid-19 Opportunity?

Irune Ruiz-Martínez,Javier Esparcia

doi:10.3390/su12229619

Abstract

The lack of internet access in most rural areas has become a challenge worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted trends such as teleworking and e-commerce, meaning an opportunity for the local economy of these areas, but with serious difficulties in carrying it out. This paper aims to detect this lack of internet in inland areas of the region of Valencia through local actors, in order to identify clear priorities and real needs through an explorative and replicable approach based on agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC). The main findings suggest that there are different patterns in the rural internet access related to adequate infrastructure and planned actions by local councils. In this way, a multitude of contextual elements have emerged that influence the importance of efficient access to the internet in rural areas. It is essential to know the real needs and demands of the population before implementing plans and programs that may not be relevant for the actors involved in territorial development.

Highlights

Depopulation and rural–urban inequalities are determining the course of public decisions
This paper aims to detect this lack of internet in inland areas of the region of Valencia through local actors, in order to identify clear priorities and real needs through an explorative and replicable approach based on agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC)
The digital divide has gained significant interest in recent times [2] caused by a change in social dynamics worldwide

Summary

Introduction

Depopulation and rural–urban inequalities are determining the course of public decisions. The increase in digital tools in all sectors (health, education, work, administration, etc.) has once again highlighted territorial inequalities. This research starts from a context, long before the current health crisis caused by Covid-19, in which new communication technologies are seen as an opportunity to promote the relocation of activities from urban areas. Aspects such as the pollution and a better quality of life suppose, in certain cases, a revaluation of the activities in peri-urban and rural areas. The growing digital gap in many rural areas with respect to urban ones constitutes an imbalance factor that counteracts these advantages, contributing, on the one hand, to limit possible telecommuting; on the other hand, to limit attractiveness as secondary residences or leisure spaces; and, this growing digital divide is becoming a social divide as well, while access to sufficient internet services is considered a basic right (as the UN itself declared in 2016)

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