Spatial Justice and local capability in rural areas

Abstract

Abstract Centralisation and urbanisation affect rural areas in different ways. By using the concept of rural spatial justice, this paper explores the injustices experienced in rural areas facing different challenges from each other. The aim is to enhance the understanding of the concept of rural spatial justice and how it can be used to identify the factors and mechanisms that produce and reproduce injustice. The argument is presented that local capability is a central factor for understanding the prerequisites for rural spatial justice. The social innovation concept is used to analyse local development capabilities. The planning of a profoundly centralising administrative reform in Finland is used for studying local responses to the reform in the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland. Four types of rurality are defined, which are expected to be exposed to a variety of injustices. The empirical cases confirm the place-based character of spatial justice, and the conclusion is drawn that in order to achieve justice, factors affecting the capability must be investigated.