Rural Dichotomy Research Articles

Challenges in developing information and communication technology (ICT) use for rural e‐governance: An ecology perspective

AbstractThe utilisation of information and communication technology (ICT) has a profound impact on e‐governance across countries, albeit, with limited attention to rural areas. The existing literature on this topic either examines the positive effects of ICT use on e‐governance at the individual level or from the urban–rural dichotomy perspective. Meanwhile, the majority of studies are conducted within an urban context, but they scarcely focus on identifying the challenges in developing rural e‐governance. As such, we contend that an ecology perspective is necessary to identify the specific distinctions of ICT use on e‐governance in various rural ecosystems. To this end, we employ various empirical specifications, namely a fixed‐effects model and an instrumental variable approach, to provide evidence of distinct influences of ICT use on e‐governance. As follows, we adopt a qualitative research approach to gather evidence on the differentiations of ICT use on rural e‐governance within diverse ecosystems. Subsequently, we have identified five crucial obstacles encountered by rural ecosystems in Western China while attempting to develop e‐governance. Furthermore, we delineate an all‐encompassing internal‐external strategy to overcome these challenges.

Unveiling the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Driving Mechanism of Rural Industrial Integration Development: A Case of Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle, China

China’s urban–rural dichotomy has resulted in a widening gap between urban and rural areas, posing significant challenges to rural development. This study aims to investigate the spatio-temporal differentiation and driving mechanisms of rural industry integration within the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle in China. Using panel data from 2011 to 2020, we employed the entropy weight TOPSIS method to construct a comprehensive index that charts the evolution of rural industry integration across various districts and counties. Additionally, we utilized fixed-effect and spatio-temporally weighted regression models to analyze the underlying driving forces behind this integration. Our findings reveal a dynamic and varied landscape of rural industry integration, with different levels of depth and breadth across various subsystems. Spatially, we observed a transition from a dispersed to a more concentrated agglomeration pattern within the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle. This shift suggests a diffusion effect emanating from core metropolitan areas, as well as an attracting force exerted by adjacent metropolitan circles. In terms of drivers, market demand, openness level, financial development, policy support, and agricultural insurance breadth significantly contribute to rural industry integration. However, technological progress and rural human capital exhibit a weaker correlation. Notably, our models identified pronounced spatial–temporal heterogeneity among these influencing factors, highlighting a nuanced and dynamic relationship between them. Overall, our study emphasizes the crucial role of rural industry integration in bridging the urban–rural divide and fostering sustainable agricultural development and rural revitalization. The insights gained from this research provide valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to optimize rural development strategies and unlock the potential of integrated rural industries.

The educational predicament of migrant children: Understanding it from the concept of citizenship

In China, the restrictions on population mobility imposed by the hukou (‘household registration’) system are in contradiction with the demand for increased population mobility in the context of economic production. The phenomenon of migrant children arises out of this contradiction, as they move between the place of household registration and the place of residence, unable to enjoy full citizenship rights and facing multiple dilemmas. Therefore, using the concept of citizenship, this article attempts to explore the interaction between the awakening of citizenship, government laws and responses and citizenship rights in terms of the right to education, so as to provide a foundational perspective for the study of the educational dilemmas of migrant children. Citizenship in China is influenced by a combination of China’s historical background, Confucian culture and the socialist ideology of the Communist Party of China, and it is firmly linked to the hukou system, possessing differentiated characteristics. The special meaning of citizenship in Chinese society and the differentiated stratification caused by the urban–rural dichotomy are the root causes of the inequality in education for migrant children, and the differentiated stratification and the awakening of civic consciousness further promote population mobility.

Re-thinking rurality: Towards a new research approach and rural-urban spatial gradient establishment in Serbia

The research on the rural-urban gradient in Serbia has been reinvigorated following the debate on rural bias. Rural-urban classification is essential in observing spatial, demographic, socio-economic, and environmental processes. There is no consensus regarding the definition of rural and rurality and it should not be observed separately from urban issues. In Serbia, it is still a matter of dispute. Rural is most often observed through the urban–rural dichotomy and “left behind” for decades. This paper strives for a new theoretical understanding of the rurality in Serbia by introducing rural heterogeneity and ‘continuing’ rurality, considering the transformative phase they are affected by. It induces a process of rethinking what rurality in Serbia is and offers an innovative methodological approach for rural delineation and settlement classification based on three main pillars: settlement patterns, functional patterns, and local relevance. The analysis is conducted on the lowest administrative level in Central Serbia. Five types of settlements are identified: two urban, and three characterized by rural features. The combination of abstractions and the methodological opportunities introduced by rethinking rurality offers geographers and practitioners a powerful methodological tool for the understanding of rural transformations and transitional spatial forms, which underpins planning and policy-making in Serbia.

Rural space and the local food landscape: consumers’ construction of food localness through the politics of belonging

PurposeThis study aims to investigate consumers’ construction of food localness through the politics of belonging in a regional context.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a socio-spatial lens and considering the “realm of meaning” of place, this research focusses on local consumers’ lived meanings of “local” food choice, and hence adopts a phenomenological approach to the data collection and analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with residents of the Italian region of Marche.FindingsDrawing on Trudeau’s (2006) politics of belonging, this study reveals three interconnected themes which show how local consumers articulate a local food “orthodoxy” and how their discourses and practices draw and maintain a boundary between local and non-local food, whereby local food is considered “autochthonous” of rural space. Thus, this study’s participants construct a local food landscape, conveying rural (vs urban) meanings through which food acquires “localness” (vs non-“localness”) status.Research limitations/implicationsThere exists further theoretical opportunity to consider local consumers’ construction of food localness through the politics of belonging in terms of non-representational theory (Thrift, 2008), to help reveal added nuances to the construction of food localness as well as to the complex process of formulating place meaning.Practical implicationsThe findings provide considerable scope for food producers, manufacturers and/or marketers to differentiate local food products by enhancing consumers’ direct experience of it in relation to rural space. Thus, enabling local food producers to convey rural (vs urban) meanings to consumers, who would develop an orthodoxy guiding future choice.Social implicationsThe findings enable regional promoters and food policymakers to leverage the symbolic distinctiveness of food autochthony to promote place and encourage consumers to participate in their local food system.Originality/valueBy using the politics of belonging as an analytical framework, this study shows that the urban–rural dichotomy – rather than being an obsolete epistemological category – fuels politics of belonging dynamics, and that local food consumers socially construct food localness not merely as a romanticisation of rurality but as a territorial expression of the contemporary local/non-local cultural conflict implied in the politics of belonging. Thus, this study advances our theoretical understanding by demonstrating that food “becomes” local and therefore, builds on extant food localness conceptualisations.

Strategies for Achieving Sustainability of Water Supply Systems in Rural Environments with Community Management in Brazil

An urban–rural dichotomy currently exists in policy documentation, accessibility to resources, and human rights. In Brazil, there remains a significant deficit in water and sanitation services coverage, particularly in rural areas. To achieve universal access to water, the legal framework addresses the development of decentralization actions and co-participation in management. As a result, a community-managed water supply (CMWS) has emerged as the social tool in which the community effectively participates in decision-making and oversees the operation and maintenance of water systems. The long-term sustainability of these systems is affected by critical factors in implementation, management, and maintenance. However, no strategic plan exists to solve/mitigate the critical factors commonly associated with CMWS. We proposed an action plan with multiscale intersectoral management strategies to guarantee water security for rural populations. The strategies were separated into areas of responsibility discussed in the recent literature and evaluated by experts. The strategies at the national level were related to institutional aspects and policy formulation. At the local level, the strategies were related to supporting CMWS from project implementation to post-construction. Finally, at the community level, the strategies were related to the quality and financial recognition of the services.

Rural problems, policies and possibilities in a post‐urban world

AbstractBased on a historical overview of spatial networks and mobility, and the development of spatial theory, this review discusses current rural problems in Europe and the need for a new rural policy. The development toward a post‐urban world, that is, a world where the traditional urban–rural dichotomy is dissolving and is replaced by city‐regions and vast, declining peripheries, means a division of rural areas into two types: those becoming integrated into the growing city‐regions and the peripheries, where exploitation of natural resources is a main activity. We claim that a policy that only focuses on rural areas would fail. The reason is that endogenous rural development is simply not possible in current Europe. What is required is better urban–rural development policies oriented towards maximizing the development potential of each region, combining people‐based with place‐based approaches, and empowering local stakeholders to take greater control of their future. Regional science has an important role to play in providing decision‐makers with evidence‐based research that meets the challenges of the post‐urban world.

“Learn to Conserve Your Passion and Care”: Exploring the Emotional Labor of Special-Post Teachers in Rural China

In recent decades, the growing trend of post-structuralist research on teacher emotional labor has offered a discursive lens to elucidate rural teachers’ identities and their teaching practices. To date, however, few studies have explored the emotional labor of special-post teachers in rural China. Through a post-structuralist framework, this study aimed to explore the emotional labor of special-post teachers. Ethnographic qualitative data from a rural primary school in northern China showed that special-post teachers experienced various emotional conflicts embedded in multiple discourses. As teaching experience increases, special-post teachers obtain agentive emotional and practical responses to lighten their negative emotional burden for work. The findings suggested that the role overload and conflicts of special-post teachers were especially prominent in the social context of the urban–rural dichotomy. Emotional reflexivity and vulnerability of special-post teachers in their identity construction as educator, professional-service-provider, and also passer-by were also discussed.

The mediating effect of urbanisation on digital technology policy and economic development: Evidence from China

Digital technology policies beyond the traditional urban–rural dichotomy have become critical in economic and industrial integration. Few empirical studies examine the specific impact pathway of digital economy policy on urbanisation, especially urbanisation driven by the digital economy. This study attempts to reveal the linkage between urbanisation and digital technology policies to provide a reference for cities aiming to achieve urban transformation through upgrading their digital economies. Based on previous research, this work examines Chongqing, a major city in terms of the digital economy. This study develops a three-tier indicator system for digital technology policy, using the entropy-weighted technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution technique to generate the indicators, and proves the partially mediating role of urbanisation via regression modelling methods and Sobel–Goodman. The discoveries reveal that urbanisation mediates digital technology policy and economic development. Urbanisation driven by the digital economy is not merely the application of information technology and the expansion of cities but the synergy and interaction of knowledge, industrial structures and resource allocation.

Mapping the lifelines: how the design of infrastructure networks impacts on transformation in dispersed territories

Besides compact cities, Western Europe is characterised by low-density dispersion, resulting in a landscape with elements of both city and land. These dispersed territories offer an alternative to a traditional urban–rural dichotomy framework and have been put forward as twenty-first-century cities. However, these territories are currently facing urgent and complex socio-economic and ecological challenges. One such territory is the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai, a transnational region on the border of Belgium and France. The hypothesis is that the evolution of the Eurometropolis territory is closely intertwined with its infrastructure networks. The structure of this article is threefold. First, it describes the non-binary condition in which the Eurometropolis is situated. Second, it analyses the evolution of infrastructure networks in the Eurometropolis from the late eighteenth century to today through case studies. Third, it highlights the potential future role of infrastructure networks in providing answers to large-scale challenges. The research presented in this article demonstrates that transformation in dispersed territories is closely related to the evolution of their infrastructure networks. Moreover, infrastructure – such as waterways, railways and roads – has enabled an urban condition without urban form in the Eurometropolis dispersed territories. In the light of these findings, the article shows that the inherent nature of dispersed territories can be influenced by rethinking these infrastructures to proactively address the collective challenges at stake.

Identifying and evaluating suburbs in China from 2012 to 2020 based on SNPP–VIIRS nighttime light remotely sensed data

• China’s suburbs can be effectively identified based on SNPP-VIIRS data. • We provide a more lone-time series and fine-resolution suburb dataset in China. • China’s suburbs present a fluctuation-growth trend. • Population density, GDP, and roads are major driver factors of suburban development. Suburbs, as bridges between urban areas and rural hinterlands, are areas with the most intense urban–rural conflicts and drastic land use changes in the urbanization process. Accurate identification and evaluation of suburbs are important to effectively break the urban–rural dichotomy, improve the utilization and management of land resources, and promote urban–rural integration and coordinated development. Previous suburb identification studies have suffered from low identification efficiency owing to the influence of subjective factors, small scales, short time-series, and single data characteristics. Thus, we took China as experimental object, and attempted to identify suburbs from the Suomi National Polar-orbit Partnership’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (SNPP–VIIRS) nighttime light remotely sensed data using the K-means algorithm and subsequent series of post-processing approaches. Thereafter, our study further evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of suburb development. Accuracy verification results show that suburb identification based on SNPP–VIIRS data can identify more details than the existing urban area data and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System data. Compared with traditional mutation detection methods, the proposed method has the advantages of being fast, efficient, and less subjective. Furthermore, we found that China’s suburbs present a fluctuation-growth trend, with the proportions increasing from 0.6% to 1.3% in the period 2012–2020. China’s suburb development was mainly driven by the development of population density, GDP, and road network. Our study provides an innovative way to conduct a rapid, efficient, and large-scale and accurate suburb identification over a long time series, thereby facilitating the study of socio-environmental issues in the urbanization process. The annual series (2012–2020) of suburbs in China are available free of charge at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/M5EED5 .

Interplay of Water–Energy Security and Food Consumption Patterns towards Achieving Nutrition Security in Katsina State, North-Western Nigeria

Everyone has the right to secure water, energy, and food supplies. These essential resources are stressed in many countries. With the current population growth rate and urbanisation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a need for more food, water, and energy to sustain the increasing population. The aim of this study was to assess the inter-relationship among water and energy in various urban and rural households to support food and nutrition security. Considering the social-economic peculiarities of the region, a specific framework and questionnaire were developed for the study. A survey involving 1785 questionnaires was conducted. Urban and rural stratification methods were used in selecting settlements across the regions. The household’s nutritional status was measured in relation to protein-rich foods as well as vegetable and fruit consumption. In addition to the Person’s correlation coefficient, which was applied to measure the association between two categories of food consumption, the chi-squared test of interdependence to determine the effect of the urban–rural dichotomy on resource utilisation was calculated. The findings indicate a high risk of undernourishment associated with insufficient sources of water and energy, as well as inappropriate sanitation facilities, especially in rural communities.

Global GDP Prediction With Night-Lights and Transfer Learning

Nighttime lights (nightlights) data are useful in predicting gross domestic product (GDP), a key economic indicator used by policymakers and economists. A persistent problem in such prediction is that nightlights under-represent economic activity in rural areas. Attempting to disaggregate nightlights using urban and rural regions is problematic as the urban&#x2013;rural dichotomy is increasingly tenuous due to changing economic structures. In response, this article presents a regionalization approach which is data driven. Utilizing transfer learning, we trained a model which takes fine spatial resolution daytime satellite sensor imagery and learns an optimal regionalization to disaggregate VIIRS nightlights for GDP prediction. To make national scale inference feasible, we formulated a novel Monte Carlo importance sampling scheme and then performed a single-year cross-sectional study across 178 countries using <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$178\,000$</tex-math></inline-formula> images. This achieved an <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R^{2}$</tex-math></inline-formula> between predicted and actual <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{log}_{10} \text{GDP}$</tex-math></inline-formula> of 0.86 on the validation set and 0.89 on the whole study area. To benchmark, we performed a subnational study over 396 US counties using <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$98\,500$</tex-math></inline-formula> images in which our method outperformed comparable methods. Interpreting the regionalization, we found that the utility of the urban&#x2013;rural dichotomy is not supported by the model and argue that seeing the nightlights of some land types as representative of the overall economy is a better way to understand the model.

Exploring the Urban–Rural Dichotomy: Does Going Rural Mean Higher Life Satisfaction?

Exploring the Urban–Rural Dichotomy: Does Going Rural Mean Higher Life Satisfaction?

Household Registration, Land Property Rights, and Differences in Migrants’ Settlement Intentions—A Regression Analysis in the Pearl River Delta

Objectives: Few studies have examined the impacts of structural differences in the urban–rural dichotomy under the new household registration policy on migration and settlement behavior. Nevertheless, the rationale for the settlement policy of local governments should be further elucidated and improved. This study aims to analyze the household registration, land property rights, and differences in migrants’ settlement intentions. Methods: This study used migration survey data from the Pearl River Delta and probit regression to fill this gap in the literature. Findings: Because of the long-term effects of the household registration system and their socioeconomic differences, urban-urban migrants and rural–urban migrants differed in their settlement intentions. Furthermore, the new points-based household registration system affected migrants’ settlement intentions. Relative to the rural–urban migrants, urban–urban migrants more easily met the settlement requirements under the points-based system, and they tended to settle in their current cities. By contrast, migrants with farmland in their hometowns tended to settle there. The findings underscore the relevance of adopting perspectives that consider the urban–rural dichotomy and related structural differences to understand migrants’ settlement intentions in China.

Unsettling the urban–rural dichotomy for Indigenous education and education for reconciliation

ABSTRACT The urban/rural dichotomy used in framing Indigenous educational issues is becoming increasingly untenable and deserving of scrutiny. Indigenous urban education follows initiatives derived from rural areas with the assumption that rural Indigenous education programs are pure or authentic. Without a critical examination of power relations, the flow of people and knowledge in the Indigenous curriculum development process may lead to continued disrespect, appropriation, and tokenization of Indigenous knowledges. This article challenges the conventional conceptualizations surrounding the rural/urban Indigenous educational divide. In so doing, the authors explore two cases: The Saskatchewan (Canada) Ministry of Education’s official K-12 science curriculum attempts to integrate Indigenous perspectives, as do Taiwan’s Indigenous experimental schools. The finding suggests moving beyond pan-urban/rural paradigms that are stemming from settler colonialism. Acknowledging the important role partnerships play for Indigenous education policy and program development, the authors put forth Crit-Trans Partnership Framework to analyze these two cases.

Urban versus Rural? Conflict Lines in Land Use Disputes in the Urban–Rural Fringe Region of Schwerin, Germany

Land use conflicts can present major obstacles to sustainable land management. An accurate understanding of their actor constellations and conflict lines is therefore crucial in developing tools for successful landscape governance. In this context, actors from cities and actors from rural areas are often seen as typical opponents. Hence, the objective of this paper is to analyze the extent to which empirical conflict lines indeed run between urban and rural actors. We applied qualitative text analysis to examine 124 land use conflicts in the urban–rural fringe of Schwerin, Germany, which were identified through semistructured interviews with key land use actors in the region. Results showed that actors from the city and the rural fringe were on opposing sides in almost half of the conflicts. However, they were also frequently in conflict among themselves, and many actor constellations involved actors from other regions or administrative levels. In conclusion, the narrative of the urban–rural dichotomy appears in the empirical data but does not appropriately convey the complexity of the actual conflict lines. The findings of this paper therefore emphasize that it is important to empirically identify the actor constellations in land use conflicts rather than rely on preconceived ideas about typical conflict lines.

Seasonal SUHI Analysis Using Local Climate Zone Classification: A Case Study of Wuhan, China.

The surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect poses a significant threat to the urban environment and public health. This paper utilized the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification and land surface temperature (LST) data to analyze the seasonal dynamics of SUHI in Wuhan based on the Google Earth Engine platform. In addition, the SUHI intensity derived from the traditional urban–rural dichotomy was also calculated for comparison. Seasonal SUHI analysis showed that (1) both LCZ classification and the urban–rural dichotomy confirmed that Wuhan’s SHUI effect was the strongest in summer, followed by spring, autumn and winter; (2) the maximum SUHI intensity derived from LCZ classification reached 6.53 °C, which indicated that the SUHI effect was very significant in Wuhan; (3) LCZ 8 (i.e., large low-rise) had the maximum LST value and LCZ G (i.e., water) had the minimum LST value in all seasons; (4) the LST values of compact high-rise/midrise/low-rise (i.e., LCZ 1–3) were higher than those of open high-rise/midrise/low-rise (i.e., LCZ 4–6) in all seasons, which indicated that building density had a positive correlation with LST; (5) the LST values of dense trees (i.e., LCZ A) were less than those of scattered trees (i.e., LCZ B) in all seasons, which indicated that vegetation density had a negative correlation with LST. This paper provides some useful information for urban planning and contributes to the healthy and sustainable development of Wuhan.

Methods for the identification of urban, rural and peri-urban areas in Europe: An overview

This paper explores the methods formulated to identify urban, rural and peri-urban areas in Europe over the last 15 years. The traditional methods based on urban–rural dichotomy are no longer functional to describe these territories, which are in constant transformation due to changes in urbanisation, demographic dynamics and economic specialisation. As such, statistical institutions, governmental organisations and scholars have developed new methods to delimitate urban and rural areas and have shed new light on the possibilities of describing peri-urban areas more accurately. However, their efforts to find the ‘perfect classification method’ that would precisely identify all the territories has led to an overproduction of methods and techniques. Thanks to an analysis of official and statistical documents as well as scientific papers published on this issue, this paper lists these new methods and clusters them in several classes based upon the variables they use to classify territories: demographic dynamics, economic and social indicators, distance and settlement structures, as well as the combination of some of these variables. Findings suggest that the most widely used methods are those based on demographic and socio-economic variables. Hybrid methods that result from the combination of several variables are less used.

Urban–Rural Dichotomy in Planning: Review of Legal Framework in Four States of India

Current urbanisation trends in India show a quantum jump in number of ‘census towns’, which are not statutorily declared as urban areas, but have acquired all characteristics of urban settlements. Sizeable number of such census towns are not located near any Class 1 city. Lack of proper and timely planning has led to unplanned growth of these settlements. This article is based on a review of planning legislations, institutional framework and planning process of four states in India. The present article analyses the scope and limitations of the planning process adopted in the rapidly urbanising rural areas of these states. The findings reveal that states are still following a conventional approach to planning that treats ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ as separate categories and highlights the need for adopting an integrated territorial approach to planning of settlements.