Non-Metropolitan Population Growth and the Evolution of Rural Service Centres in the Canadian Prairie Region

Abstract

STABLER J. C. (1987) Non-Metropolitan population growth and the evolution of rural service centres in the Canadian Prairie region, Reg. Studies 21, 43–53. The growth of non-metropolitan population in the Canadian Prairie region during the 1970s did not produce a counterpart revival of the trade centre status of rural communities. Analysis of 1,027 small communities in this region reveals that more than one-half declined in trade centre status between 1961 and 1981. Further, each functional category provided fewer consumers' and producers' services in 1981 than in 1961. These observations imply that, while an increasing number of people prefer to live in non-metropolitan areas, their shopping patterns, nevertheless, reflect a preference for the options provided by larger urban places. Their presence has not revived the trade centre status of the small communities they have chosen to live in. STABLER J. C. (1987) La croissance de la population non-metropolitaine et l'evolution des noyaux tertiaires ruraux d...