Rural Geography Research Articles

Spatial and individual resistance(s) in depopulated and remote rural areas

ABSTRACTThe concept of resistance is multidimensional in political and rural geography. It is mainly used to classify communities’ strategies in response to the actions of extra-local public and private agents. In this approach, the community is usually studied homogeneously. However, some interpretations consider that resistance creates differentiation processes within the rural community. From this perspective, individual resistance strategies can be analysed, which join forces in times of community resistance. In depopulated regions, the purpose of resistance is to remain in a place. This paper studies several cases of resistance in small populations affected by depopulation in a region of Spain.

Modeling wrong-way crashes and fatalities on arterials and freeways

Wrong way driving (WWD) research and mitigation measures have primarily focused on limited access facilities. This is most likely due to the higher incidence of fatal WWD crashes with dramatic consequences on freeways, media attention, and a call for innovative solutions to address the problem. While public agencies and published literature address WWD incidence on freeway systems, the crash analyses on non-limited access facilities, i.e., arterial corridors, remains untouched. This research extends previous works and attempts to provide many new perspectives on arterial WWD incidence. In particular, one work showed that while WWD fatalities are more likely to occur on freeways, the likelihood of these crashes is higher on arterials. Hence this work with univariate and multivariate analyses of WWD and non-WWD crashes, and fatal and non-fatal WWD incidents. Results show the impressive negative impacts of alcohol use, driver defect, nighttime and weekend incidence, poor street lighting, low traffic volumes, rural geography, and median and shoulder widths. The objective here is to highlight the need for paying greater attention to WWD crashes on arterial corridors as is done with fatal WWD incidents on freeway systems. It suffices to say that while engineering countermeasures should evolve from the traditional signing and pavement markings to connected vehicle technology applications, there is a clear and compelling need to focus on educational campaigns specifically targeting drunken driving, and enforcement initiatives with an objective to mitigate WWD in the most efficient manner possible.

Spatial polarization of agriculture of Czechia during the integration into the European Union

The primary focus of Czech agricultural and rural geographers in the past decade was put on the regional impacts triggered by the transformation of agriculture and the influences of the Common Agricultural Policy on agriculture. Multifunctionality or spatial polarization of agriculture of Czechia remained the object of marginal scientific interest, despite the fact that such topics were largely discussed amongst foreign experts in connection with a theoretical transformation of the rural space. Therefore, relying on indicators of crop and livestock production, the ambition of the paper is to uncover the dynamics of spatial polarization of agriculture in Czechia. Its conclusions reveal an increasing spatial polarization of agriculture during the Czech integration into the European Union between regions with different natural conditions (areas with favourable conditions for agriculture and mountainous areas). It turns out, however, that while the fertile regions have been gradually specializing on crop production, spatial polarization in livestock production increases due to the rising role of mountainous areas.

Features of Rural Settlements: Gjirokastra Region Case

Like other scholars of different disciplines, geographers have established their particular feature, through numerous studies. Proper studies, such as studies of the settlements and the degree of use of rural territories, are carried out even in the field of rural geography. The vast majority of settlements as well as most of human potential in the territory of Albania (about 58%) are located in the rural area. Geographical contributions to the study of rural settlements consist in high levels of information also in their dynamics related to time and space, necessary for decision-making institutions in the service of sustainable rural development. Support specialists in various fields, the role of geography are a priority in the study of rural areas settlements, on the basis of natural knowledge, socio-economic and diverse research methods. During the historical periods, depending on natural, political, socio-economic factors, the demographic and administrative organization of urban and rural areas in Albania have established their physiognomy and authenticity. The number, scope and functions of rural areas settlements have been the subject of study carried out by many authors who have analyzed not only nationally, but also regionally and locally. A particular case is the district of Gjirokastra, where the rural migration has brought about many negative effects. Administrative divisions have a direct impact on the number, size and rational distribution of settlements. During the previous regime, their network was transformed, not only in spatial terms, but also from the functional point of view and typology-wise. After 1989, political, economic and legal changes brought about the need to alter the old forms of governance and the performance of the administrative-territorial reform had a multilateral impact on the network of rural settlements. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p269

West Hampshire Community Diabetes Service: re‐commissioning a sustainable model of care

West Hampshire Community Diabetes Service: re‐commissioning a sustainable model of care

Mobilization and Adaptation of a Rural Cradle-to-Career Network

This case study explored the development of a rural cradle-to-career network with a dual focus on the initial mobilization of network members and subsequent adaptations made to maintain mobilization, while meeting local needs. Data sources included interviews with network members, observations of meetings, and documentary evidence. Network-based social capital facilitated mobilization. Where networks were absent and where distrust and different values were evident, mobilization faltered. Three network adaptations were discovered: Special rural community organizing strategies, district-level action planning, and a theory of action focused on out-of-school factors. All three were attributable to the composition of mobilized stakeholders and this network’s rural social geography. These findings illuminate the importance of social geography in the development and advancement of rural cradle-to-career networks.

Ensuring Evidence-Based Practice: A Study of Factors Associated with Nonuse of American Urological Association Guidelines

IntroductionEvidence-based guidelines are published by the AUA (American Urological Association) to improve the quality and consistency of urological care. The 2014 AUA Census reported a unique field regarding provider utilization of AUA Guidelines. We sought to identify factors associated with nonuse of AUA Guidelines to understand how education and dissemination of these guidelines might be improved. MethodsUsing 2014 AUA Census data providers were stratified based on self-reported use or nonuse of AUA Guidelines. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to identify factors associated with nonuse. Post-stratification weights were applied to calculate national estimates with SAS®, version 9.4. ResultsThe 2,202 survey respondents represented 11,680 practicing urologists. AUA guideline use was reported by 95.0% of the weighted population. There was no significant difference in utilization based on gender, race, country of origin, practice type or fellowship completion. After controlling for other variables urologists who reported practicing in a rural area were more likely to be nonusers (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03–1.09). Additionally, urologists who had been practicing longer were less likely to utilize guidelines compared with those earlier in the career (practicing 10 to 20 years OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.10–1.21 and more than 20 years OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.09–1.18, p <0.05). ConclusionsDespite continued publication and dissemination of AUA Guidelines about 5% of urologists do not utilize guidelines. Later career status and rural geography were associated with nonuse. These data may inform efforts to improve dissemination and education regarding evidence-based practice.

Rural geography I

This report focuses on the now substantial international rural geography literature on the emergence of so-called ‘resource peripheries’, linked to the economic expansion of rapidly industrializing nations such as India and China. The report outlines the major foci and key arguments of this body of work, noting its connections to, but also elaborations of, important concepts used within rural geography, including global commodity chains and their multi-scalar governance, involving, in part, political, economic and social relations between corporations and local communities. Noting the influence of numerous Marxian concepts in this body of work’s intellectual development, the report draws further potential links with the ‘dis/articulations’ scholarship that has recently emerged out of a critique of the global commodity/value chain research, including notions of dispossession, disempowerment and primitive accumulation. Relatedly, aspects of multi-scalar and multi-sector governance in natural resource extraction are highlighted.

Rural geography research in post-apartheid South Africa: patterns and opportunities

This review article represents an attempt at highlighting the important research conducted by geographers in rural areas of South Africa. Acknowledging the challenges facing many review articles on broad disciplines or sub-disciplines such as rural geography, the paper mostly focuses on selected research that took place over the last two and a half decades or so, that covers the areas of land rights, biodiversity conservation and justice, rural development and livelihoods. The conclusion is that rural geography research in South Africa is of major significance in South Africa’s attempts to fulfil many of the post-apartheid goals of improving the lives of the marginalized. It is also argued that research conducted under the rural geography banner can grow in the same pace as the new challenges emerge, including being in positive interaction with other sub-disciplines (e.g. urban geography) in addressing challenges such as urban–rural fringe and urban sprawl.

Progress of research on urban-rural transformation and rural development in China in the past decade and future prospects

Urban-rural transformation and rural development are issues at the forefront of research on the topic of the urban-rural relationship in the field of geography, as well as important practical problems facing China’s new urbanization and overall planning of urban and rural development. The Center for Regional Agricultural and Rural Development, part of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was established in 2005. The Center has laid solid foundations for integrating research in the areas of agricultural geography and rural development in China over the past decade. The paper aims to review the major achievements in rural geographical research in China during the past decade, analyze innovative developments in relevant theories and methods, and suggest prospects and countermeasures for promoting comprehensive studies of urban-rural transformation and rural geography. The research shows that innovative achievements have been made in rural geography studies of China in the past decade as major national policy development, outputs of result and decision making support; new breakthroughs have been achieved in such major research projects as geographical integrated theory, land remediation projects and technology demonstration projects, new urbanization and urban-rural integration; significant progress has been made in actively expanding the frontiers of rural geography and pushing forward theoretical innovations in land and resource projects; and, with China’s development goals of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving modernization in mind, future innovative developments in agricultural and rural geography should aim to make research more strategic, systematic, scientific and security-oriented, with attention given to promoting systematic scientific research on international cooperation and global rural geography.

REFERENCES IN LE CORBUSIER’S REORGANIZATION OF RURAL HABITAT

Projects for the Reorganization of the Rural Habitat designed by Le Corbusier during the ‘30s posed a territorial model from a radically new vision. The Ferme Radieuse, the Village Radieux and its implementation as the Unité d’Explotation Agricole within his theory of Les Trois Établissements Humains, form a complex theory of agricultural land use with an innovative character. However, in these studies some historical and vernacular references can also be found. They significantly influenced the overall approach and the results. Thanks to his relationship with the rural activist Norbert Bézard and a direct contact with farmers in the region of Sarthe, in central France, Le Corbusier began to understand their problems, needs and ways of working. He approached, at the same time, to some theoretical reflections from French rural historians and geographers, such as Roupnel and Ramuz. Influence from writers like Ritter or politicians like Giradoux, together with its own interests, marked his later designs. Besides the accepted functionalist scheme, we can also find in this Reorganization of the Rural Habitat some interesting historical connections as well as a nostalgic attempt to recover past and vernacular models.

Unconventional risks: The experience of acute energy development in the Eagle Ford Shale

Many rural communities are facing complicated risks resulting from unconventional oil and gas development and hydraulic fracturing. This study focuses on residents’ experiences of risk and the factors limiting local leader’s efforts to protect residents. Data for this research were obtained through interviews with community leaders, industry officials, and focus groups with private citizens. Data collection occurred in four counties in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas. Study participants shared examples of how their lives were impacted by increased truck traffic, food and housing insecurity, flaring of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas, and concerns about water contamination. Community leaders confront a tension between supporting economic growth and development associated with energy development, and managing these negative social and environmental outcomes. We identify three significant factors that weaken the power and limit the ability of local governments to effectively advocate for their communities. First, rural communities lack the staffing, expertise, and financial resources to properly cope with development. Second, the rural geography makes it difficult for local governments to work collaboratively across political borders. Third, the dominant conservative political values make it difficult for local leaders to advocate for increases in regional, state, or federal regulation.

Reassessing and Revising Commuting Zones for 2010: History, Assessment, and Updates for U.S. ‘Labor-Sheds’ 1990–2010

This paper employs commuter flow data from the 1990 and 2000 Decennial Censuses, and the 2006–2010 American Community Survey to replicate, evaluate, and extend the delineation of commuting zones first proposed by Tolbert and Killian (Labor Market Areas for the United States, 1987). Commuting zones offer a valuable tool for research on regional economies and have long served rural sociologists, economists, and geographers interested in a representation of the economy that acknowledges a connection between urban and rural areas and the capacity of economic systems to cross state lines. Our delineations provide both an update in the form of new delineations for 2010 and a revised set of 1990 and 2000 delineations that benefit from a consistent methodology across decades. We also provide a set of tools for comparing delineations across methods and over time. In presenting our revised delineations, we shed light on the role of expert opinion in the original delineations, the strengths and weaknesses of the original method, and offer suggestions for further revision of this tool that may better reflect the theoretical conception of commuting zones.

An Individual Rural Geography

To date, only limited research has focused on the individual in rural geography compared to the importance given to the rural community. With the sociocultural turn and moral positions in rural geography, however, the individual is acquiring more relevance but encapsulated in analytical traditions of locality community and of marginal situations and people. This article synthesizes the most significant works about the individual, especially within rural geography, and its key dimensions are identified: citizenship (political and normative dimension), emotional aspects (the extraordinary moments in peoples' lives), everyday life (the relationship between the individual and the rural place), and difference and otherness (between and within others). To develop an individual rural geography, these four dimensions, which reflect different aspects of the rural individual, must be used in a complementary manner. The relevance of each dimension suggests different types of individualities in rural areas. Ultimately, this article proposes a “new humanism” in contrast with antihumanistic poststructural approaches.

Tendencias recientes en los estudios de Geografía rural. Desarrollos teóricos y líneas de investigación en países de América Latina

In this paper it is made a tour through the various theoretical and methodological routes that support the Rural Geography, in its current forms. The article is part of a wider investigation into the trends and state of the art of rurality between the years 1990 and 2010, with emphasis on rural geography perspective and particularly on the contributions that establish French geography and Anglo- Saxon geography. It highlights how these influences have transcended national geographical schools in some countries of Latin America. At the beginning of the discipline in the early twentieth century, emphasizing the identification and description of landscapes, influenced by the importance of regionalist discourse. Subsequently, rural geographical studies developed under the influence of economic geography, mainly describing large areas of agricultural specialization worldwide (cereal production areas, or Mediterranean agriculture, etc.). Later, from the decade of the eighties, analyze the depth of the territorial changes that occur in rural areas, due to changes in the Fordist and post-Fordist production paradigm, and the arrangements resulting from globalization. Highlight Post-productivist trends, evident since the late eighties and during the nineties, represented by the functional diversification of rural areas. In these, have changed the traditional roles of rural spaces, in terms of food production and land use, with the growing presence of non-agricultural functions, such as residential, industrial, commercial, transport and recreation, gradually displacing agricultural activities, changing the face of traditional agricultural areas. Characterization and function of the field, start to differentiate. Cities grow, expand and modify their links with adjacent rural areas; in rural areas more and more housing developments. In the great world metropolis urbanization advances significantly in the occupation of rural areas, although in some countries, such progress is conducted under certain rules of land use, while others are made of chaotic way. However in both cases, are becoming more confusing the boundaries between city and countryside. The conditions of agricultural and livestock production have changed; the social composition of rural households has become the product of intense national and international migration as well as proliferation of new non-agricultural activities. Electronic communications and computing have entered the field, at different levels and this too has changed. The rural geography as a branch in the study of humanized spaces, analyzes the different ways in which they are spatially embodied such transformations. Precisely rural geography has been commissioned to give a space character to the territorial, economic and social changes that occur in the field, with an even greater than other disciplines such as rural sociology, anthropology or agricultural economics emphasis. Now from the decade of the eighties, rural geography gives particular attention to the residential function and social changes that are prevalent in peri-urban, favoring approaches to the employment and several third sector activities (services and leisure) who develope the new inhabitants. It is recognized that peri-urbanization has crossed the characterizations and typologies actually recognized. From disciplines such as rural sociology and social anthropology is discussed about the location of people in a given area: are they urban or rural? Different positions are presented and there is a need to review the relevance of the dichotomy and the hybrid character, intermediate between town and country. Finally, emphasizing the identification of territory as a conceptual category to study their processes and forms of apprehension, as well as the concepts and current ideas in construction and territorial management. Highlights some prevailing trends and lines of research in some countries of Latin America, where currently rurality is analyzed not only from the geographical discourse, but through various social disciplines devoted to the study of the territories. In this context, although the Rural Geography has contributed concepts and tools that enhance the perception of territorial expressions of economic and social processes relies increasingly greater extent, to linking with other social disciplines. It fulfills with its tasks of spatial analysis as a discipline.

Factors Associated With Unplanned Hospitalizations Among Patients With Nonmetastatic Colorectal Cancers Intended for Treatment in the Ambulatory Setting.

Chemotherapy administration and supportive management for solid tumors is intended to take place in the ambulatory setting, but little is known about why some patients experience treatment-related adverse events so severe as to require acute inpatient care. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of initial and repeated unplanned hospitalizations and potential financial impact among Medicare patients with early-stage (Stages I-III) colorectal cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy. Advanced statistical modeling was used to analyze a cohort of patients (N = 1,485) from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database diagnosed from 2003 to 2007 with colorectal cancer as their first primary malignancy. Patients were of ages 66 and older at diagnosis, had uninterrupted Medicare Parts A and B coverage with no health maintenance organization component, and received chemotherapy at least one time. Female gender, younger age, multiple comorbidities, rural geography, higher high school completion rates, and lower median income per census tract were significant predictors of the likelihood of initial unplanned hospitalizations. Non-White race, receipt of radiation therapy, rural geography, and higher weighted comorbidity scores were factors associated with the number of hospitalizations experienced. The total Medicare charges calculated for these admissions was $38,976,171, with the median charge per admission at $20,412. Demographic and clinical factors that form the foundation of work toward development of a risk factor profile for unplanned hospitalization were identified. Further work is needed to incorporate additional clinical data to create a clinically applicable model.

Advances in the Measurement of Transport Impedance in Accessibility Modelling

Accessibility is a key concept in both transport and urban planning. The key aims of transport policies, not only at the urban level but also at the supra-national (for example, European Union), national and regional level, are to improve accessibility. Accessibility is also a key concept that has become central to physical planning and in spatial modelling for more than fifty years. As measure of the relative nearness or proximity of one place and persons to all other places or persons, conceptually linked to Newton’s law of gravity, its origins can be traced back to the 1920s when it was used in location theory and regional economic planning (Batty, 2009). In his classic paper ‘How Accessibility Shapes Land Use’, Hansen (1959) was the first to define accessibility as a potential of opportunities for interaction and applied the concept to forecast employment developments in Washington D.C.. Accessibility is thus a key concept in planning and research but often a confusing one. Many different accessibility definitions and operationalisations in accessibility models and instruments have in the past decades been developed and applied by researchers from several academic fields (e.g., urban geography, rural geography, health geography, time geography, spatial economics, transport engineering) and transport and urban planners (e.g., see for reviews Geurs and van Wee, 2004; Páez et al., 2012; Papa et al., 2016).

Solo and Small Practices: A Vital, Diverse Part of Primary Care.

Solo and small practices are facing growing pressure to consolidate. Our objectives were to determine (1) the percentage of family physicians in solo and small practices, and (2) the characteristics of and services provided by these practices. A total of 10,888 family physicians seeking certification through the American Board of Family Medicine in 2013 completed a demographic survey. Their practices were split into categories by size: solo, small (2 to 5 providers), medium (6 to 20 providers), and large (more than 20 providers). We also determined the rurality of the county where the physicians practiced. We developed 2 logistic regression models: one assessed predictors of practicing in a solo or small practice, while the other was restricted to solo and small practices and assessed predictors of practicing in a solo practice. More than one-half of respondents worked in solo or small practices. Small practices were the largest group (36%) and were the most likely to be located in a rural setting (20%). The likelihood of having a care coordinator and medical home certification increased with practice size. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small or solo practices (vs medium-sized or large ones) if they were African American or Hispanic, had been working for more than 30 years, and worked in rural areas. Physicians were more likely to be practicing in small practices (vs solo ones) if they worked in highly rural areas. Family physicians in solo and small practices comprised the majority among all family physicians seeking board certification and were more likely to work in rural geographies. Extension programs and community health teams have the potential to support transformation within these practices.

Impact of Corporate Agriculture on Sustainable Rural Development in Nigeria

This study sets out to investigate whether corporate agriculture has any significant impact on Nigeria’s economy. The dimensions of impact assessed are mainly capital investment, private sector’s participation, employment and rural resource/infrastructural development. We used descriptive statistics and simple percentages for evaluation. Secondary data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange were collected, sorted, classified and used for the analysis, with extensive literature review. The study finds that corporate agriculture has significant positive impact on the economy, but the subsector is still under-invested and under-utilized. Government policies had not encouraged large scale investment in corporate agriculture; rather it has only favored official funding of agricultural programs creating loopholes for mismanagement of huge agricultural resources and wastages. The implications are obvious; including unemployment, food insecurity and rural poverty. Our limitation is with respect to inaccurate, up-to-date secondary data. However, this limitation does not invalidate our findings. We recommend corporate agriculture, policy reforms and accelerated investment in the sector through public-private partnership. We also recommend a bridge in infrastructure gap between rural and urban geography in a comprehensive rural-urban integration program. We conclude that Nigeria can achieve food security and also contribute to food security in other countries through exports and foreign exchange.

Trajectories of objectively measured sedentary time among secondary students in Manitoba, Canada in the context of a province-wide physical education policy: A longitudinal analysis.

Canadian adolescents' sedentary behaviour (SB) is poorly understood and greatly understudied compared to physical activity (PA). Accumulating evidence suggests that SB poses long-term health risks regardless of PA levels. To design effective interventions that target SB, it is critical to first understand adolescents' sedentary time (ST) trajectories in a Canadian context. Therefore, we examined longitudinal trajectories of Manitoba students' ST from 2008 to 2011 and identified associated factors in the context of a province-wide physical education (PE) policy. Secondary schools offering grades 9 through 12 were randomly selected in blocks to represent the urban and rural geography of Manitoba. In each selected school (n = 31), a convenience sample of grade 9 or 10 PE classes was recruited, leading to a final sample of 447 students. To assess ST, participants wore accelerometers on 7 consecutive days at baseline (2008) and during at least one follow-up period (2009, 2010 and 2011). At baseline, students accumulated an average of 540 minutes/day of ST. Over the course of secondary school, students' ST trajectories remained stable. Females compared to males had a slightly higher rate of decline in ST (p = 0.035), adjusting for socio-demographic variables. ST trajectories were not associated with baseline PA, body mass index and school neighbourhood socio-economic status. Adolescent ST remained high throughout secondary school. SB may be well established by early adolescence and track through late adolescence. Our findings suggest the potential need for additional interventions to reduce SB before and over the course of secondary school.