Rural Mobility Research Articles

Hybridising counterurbanisation: Lessons from Japan's kankeijinkō

This paper examines the discourse and material manifestation of kankeijinkō, a phrase used in Japan to describe, primarily, highly mobile groups of urbanities who make regular visits to the countryside. Drawing on Japanese grey literature, secondary data analysis, national-level policy reports and exploratory fieldwork in the northwest of Japan, we argue that the concept of kankeijinkō offers a view of rural mobility quite different from more established views of counterurbanisation, at least in the way that it has been captured in the global north. As a concept, kankeijinkō invites us to move beyond simple and binary taxonomies of migration and settlement, and destabilizes the notion of rural vitality as being linked to rural populations that are spatially fixed and bounded. Further, the promotion of kankeijinkō in policy discourses in Japan has the potential to support new hybrid, fluid and place-based rural lifestyles that contribute to an interconnected global countryside. On the other hand, the discourse of kankeijinkō might privilege certain modes of rural mobility and being, circumscribing the potentialities of these mobile groups.

Optimization of Rural Demand-Responsive Transportation through Transfer Point Allocation

Rural mobility has a lack of innovative proposals in contrast with its urban counterpart. This research aims to bring solutions that ease the implementation of reliable and flexible rural transportation. Demand-responsive transportation is chosen to develop a public transportation service providing interurban trips among several rural settlements. Given the characteristics of rural displacement demand, a novel approach is introduced to optimize the service’s economic costs: the dynamic transfer point allocation. The problem is fully formulated and an architecture is introduced describing the workflow of the whole system. Data from an interurban bus transportation service are used to build a case study of a rural area of Valencia, Spain, and develop several examples illustrating the benefits of the proposed approach. The results reveal that the dynamic creation of transfer points can simplify the transportation fleet’s itineraries and boost the amount of served travel requests. Finally, a discussion of the benefits and dangers of flexible features in rural transportation is developed, underscoring the need to achieve a balance between dynamic operation and service quality.

The Implications of a Co-Created Software Solution for Mobility in Rural Areas

This paper explores the challenges in providing digital services of general interest in rural areas and proposes co-created ride-sharing software solutions to address the specific needs of these regions. This applied research is part of the Smarte.Land.Regionen project, which aims to improve digital public services at the district level. Focusing on rural mobility, the paper introduces ride-sharing benches enhanced with software as a possible low-threshold solution. Via workshops, surveys, and market research, the study identifies barriers to the adoption of ride-sharing benches and investigates factors contributing to their success. The software will be developed in an agile process together with partner counties and applied in a real-world case study. The proposed software solution emphasizes user-centered development, the geographical location of benches, and the prioritization of ride requests over ride offers. The findings highlight safety concerns, a lack of reliability, and the importance of obtaining people who are theoretically interested in solutions to actively participate in them. The paper emphasizes the importance of collaborative development with county stakeholders while also acknowledging the inherent limitations as the overall process becomes more complex and organizational obstacles arise. In addition, the findings suggest that the current state of rural mobility cannot be fundamentally changed by the implementation of ride-sharing software alone. Future research should focus on sustaining and scaling digital solutions, measuring their impact on rural mobility, and ensuring their transferability to other regions. The goal is to contribute to inclusive and sustainable rural development by improving access to digital public services and promoting the adoption of tailored mobility solutions.

Rural mobility and socio-spatial impacts in Japan: A case study of Kutchan, Hokkaido

Counterurbanisation, a phenomenon signifying the urban exodus, primarily highlights certain aspects of rural mobility while often overlooking its diverse nature. With globalisation, a new wave of challenges has emerged in rural areas due to an increase in transnational mobility, complexities that have remained largely under-explored. This research paper addresses these gaps by examining the impact of rural mobility on Kutchan, Hokkaido, Japan, a rural town that has experienced significant social and spatial transformations due to an influx of domestic and transnational migrants, supplemented by increased investment. By analysing population data from 1959 to 2022, the study identifies the period when rural mobility emerged as the dominant demographic trend. Subsequently, it examines the impact of rural mobility on demographic changes, socio-economic shifts, and housing dynamics in both the ski and non-ski tourism areas of Kutchan during this period. The findings reveal that rural mobility has been the primary factor affecting Kutchan's demographic structure since 2000. From 2000 to 2010, highly educated foreign residents supplanted local Japanese residents with basic education, sparking a rise in housing prices and a transition from small entrepreneurs to large institutions in the ski tourism area. From 2015 to 2020, the influx of large institutions and capital associated with transnational migrants caused a significant rise in housing prices, thereby accelerating the displacement of Japanese residents throughout Kutchan. These social and spatial changes align with the patterns of gentrification. This empirical study contributes to existing scholarship by emphasising the significant temporal and spatial impact of rural mobility in Japan within the context of globalisation.

Agriculture–Tourism Integration’s Impact on Agricultural Green Productivity in China

Currently, the integrated development of agriculture and tourism is one of the most critical strategic measures in China. The rapid growth of agricultural tourism integration presents the typical characteristics of expanding regional differences. Exploring the impact of agricultural tourism integration on the growth of green total factor productivity in agriculture has important theoretical and practical significance. This study constructs a comprehensive index system for agricultural tourism integration, measuring the development level of agricultural tourism integration in 30 sample provinces from 2008 to 2018. Using the generalized system method of moments approach and Tobit model, the impact of agricultural tourism integration on agriculture was empirically tested, and the regulatory role of rural human capital was discussed. It was found that agricultural tourism integration contributes significantly to the improvement in green total factor productivity in agriculture, with rural mobility human capital, education human capital, and health human capital all playing a significant positive moderating role in this process. Finally, it is recommended that priority be given to agricultural tourism integration in the policy framework, promoting industrial chain upgrading, raising investment in rural infrastructure, and upgrading rural human capital levels to contribute the rural economic development.

Rural–nonrural divide in car access and unmet travel need in the United States

AbstractCar access is practically a necessity to get around in rural areas of the United States. Yet approximately 4% of rural residents or 4.3 million people do not have a car. Despite important rural–nonrural differences in the built environment and how people travel, research on rural mobility disparities by car access is limited. This paper addresses this gap by asking and answering the following questions: (1) What are the scope and scale of rural car access in the U.S. and what are the factors associated with not having a car? (2) How do rural carless residents get around relative to their nonrural peers? (3) What are the consequences of not having car access in rural areas? We used a dichotomous rural–nonrural classification to evaluate differences in car access and mobility outcomes between rural and nonrural areas using the U.S. Census Bureau Public Use Microdata Sample and the National Household Travel Survey. The results reveal new evidence on socioeconomic and mobility disparities by car access within and between rural and nonrural areas. Rural carless households earn 64% less and 40% less than their counterparts with full car access and their nonrural counterparts, respectively. Rural Native Americans, Black, and Asian populations have a 2.1 times, 1.3 times, and 1.3 times the odds of being carless, respectively, than their rural white peers, after controlling for other factors. Despite their lack of access to a car, a significantly smaller proportion of rural carless residents bike, walk, or take transit for work trips than their nonrural peers (38.9% vs. 74.6%), which may indicate infeasibility of sustainable modes in some rural areas. Consequently, rural carless residents are 2 times more likely to forsake trips than their nonrural peers due to a lack of transportation options. Our findings highlight rural mobility inequities that carless people face relative to their nonrural peers, which merit attention and tailored policy interventions to improve rural mobility, sustainability, accessibility, and equity.

Zooming in and out on everyday mobility practices in a rural, mountainous area of Switzerland

To combat climate change, carbon emissions from everyday mobility must be lowered. This can be achieved by improving vehicle efficiency, shifting to low-carbon modes of transport and avoiding travel. Most of the literature focuses on shifting mobility away from cars, mainly in the context of commuting. However, mobility is embedded deeply in everyday life and is much more complex. This research tries to broaden the scope and not only analyse the mode of transport that people choose but also the purposes that their mobility serves and how this influences their modal choice. Contrary to the dominant literature's emphasis on urban mobility, this study focuses on rural mobility, highlighting its specific challenges. As a case study, the mobility practices of residents of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch (UBE) in Switzerland were investigated. Using a social practice approach has proven useful in analysing how individuals shape their everyday mobility. The study ‘zooms in’ on how practices are configured and ‘zooms out’ on the connection between mobility practices and mobility purposes, with the overarching aim to explore the key characteristics and dynamics of rural everyday transport in Switzerland, using the UBE as a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed adopting a thematic analysis approach. The results indicate that in the rural context geographical conditions and infrastructure availability exert more influence on how practices are performed than in urban contexts. Also, the time spent on mobility was valued differently depending on the mobility purpose, leading to different modal choices for different mobility purposes. Finally, the results demonstrate that strong social capital within a community can foster low-carbon mobility in three ways: shorter distances travelled for shopping and leisure purposes; a preference for active modes of transport; and self-organised collective transport. These findings highlight the importance of considering mobility practices' embeddedness in everyday life while identifying potentials for shifting to low-carbon modes of transport, as well as avoiding travel in the first place.

Can the transition to sustainable mobility be fair in rural areas? A stakeholder approach to mobility justice

This research explores the modalities of distributional and procedural justice in the mobility sector through a qualitative research carried out among institutional and non-profit actors in the mobility sector in the Drôme and Ardèche departments of France. This justice is distributional in that the reduction in public transit provision has led people to assume the cost of mobility and changes to it on an individual basis. It is procedural insofar as environmental policies that affect mobility tend to be promulgated by the central government without the input of residents. The results of the research show that a mobility transition based on individual change tends to reproduce the high-carbon system's inequalities of access. In addition, the complexity of local mobility governance leads to the diffusion of responsibility that further reduces local citizens' ability to take part in the decision-making process. Civic associations, which play the role of local experts on rural mobility, appear as key to implementing long-term, interregional policies but raise questions about democracy in territorial policies.

Multi-Level Participatory GIS Framework to Assess Mobility Needs and Transport Barriers in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Rural Mumias East, a Sub-County of Kakamega, Kenya

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the application of GIS to community empowerment or new policy development through participatory design, information gathering and implementation. This study, therefore, aims to apply a multi-level participatory GIS (PGIS) framework to assess mobility needs and barriers in rural areas from different available transport modes. This assessment was applied to three sub-locations (Lusheya, Khaunga and Mahola) located in the sub-county of Mumias East, Kakamega, Kenya. The study brings two main contributions: (1) an overview of mobility needs and barriers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and (2) an introduction of a PGIS framework that integrates in-depth local knowledge of rural mobility needs and mobility barriers. This PGIS framework was applied to mobility issues based on three main dimensions: context, process and content. The context in the PGIS framework focuses on identifying the right stakeholders and putting on suitable structures for their training as well as the collection of data. The process considers the collection, analysis and visualization of rural mobility data. The content of the data collected are validated for accuracy in the form of maps and are evaluated for relevance by stakeholders. Local youths with GIS knowledge and digital tools were mobilized along with community people having a solid understanding of the local geographical contexts to collect geographically referenced data related to community resources, transport networks, and mobility barriers. The application of the multi-level PGIS framework has brought to the mainstream daily mobility challenges faced by rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Community members, even those from remote areas, also have access to decision making, reversing the previous structure that strongly relied on often-irrelevant, top-down decision making.

Sustainability of smart rural mobility and tourism: A key performance indicators-based approach

The concept of smart mobility and tourism has evolved from a technology-driven approach to one that focuses on sustainable solutions to address economic, social, and environmental issues. The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide a framework for measuring and tracking progress toward sustainability goals. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a useful tool for measuring and tracking progress towards these goals, allowing for continuous monitoring and evaluation of progress, identification of areas for improvement, and directing targeted interventions. This research aims to develop an indicators-based framework to evaluate the sustainability of smart and sustainable mobility and tourism in rural areas. Rural areas have often been neglected, or at least less prioritized, in the sustainability development of the mobility sector. The study also seeks to identify the overlap of KPIs between rural tourism and mobility, and how improved green mobility services can enhance sustainable rural tourism. Smart mobility and tourism indicators have a strong mutual relationship in rural communities, driving economic development, improving the quality of life for residents and visitors, and creating more sustainable and livable communities. Smart mobility and tourism indicators also play a crucial role in supporting the UN SDGs by providing data and insights that can inform policy and decision-making. The results of this research conclude how the target and performance setting of projects on sustainable mobility and tourism in rural communities support each other, and how they support achieving SDGs.

Mesoscale Structure in Urban–Rural Mobility Networks in the Pearl River Delta Area: A Weighted Stochastic Block Modeling Analysis

Understanding the spatial structure of a megaregion with urban and rural areas is crucial for promoting sustainable urbanization and urban–rural integration. Compared to the city network (or the network of urban areas), however, fewer studies focus on the network connecting rural areas or on the comparison of regional structures between urban and rural networks. Using weighted daily mobility flows from the massive mobile-phone signaling data, this study constructs an urban–urban mobility (UUM) network and an urban–rural mobility (URM) network in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. A weighted stochastic block model (WSBM) was adopted to identify and compare the latent mesoscale structures in the two networks. Results investigated a gradient community mesoscale structure nested with typical core–periphery (CP) structures in the UUM network and an asymmetric bipartite mesoscale structure mixed with CP hierarchies in the URM network. In a comparison of the different spatial configuration of urban/rural nodes and groupings of their roles, positions, and linkages, the study yielded empirical insights for renewed urban–rural interaction and potential planning pathways towards urban–rural integration.

Uncovering spatial and social gaps in rural mobility via mobile phone big data

Rural mobility inequality is an important aspect of inequality-focused Sustainable Development Goals. To reduce inequality and promote global sustainable development, more insight is needed into human mobility patterns in rural areas. However, studies on rural human mobility are scarce, limiting our understanding of the spatial and social gaps in rural human mobility and our ability to design policies for social equality and global sustainable development. This study, therefore, explores human mobility patterns in rural China using mobile phone data. Mapping the relative frequency of short-distance trips across rural towns, we observed that geographically peripheral populations tend to have a low percentage of short-distance flows. We further revealed social gaps in mobility by fitting statistical models: as travel distances increased, human movements declined more rapidly among vulnerable groups, including children, older people, women, and low-income people. In addition, we found that people living with low street density, or in rural towns in peripheral cities with long distances to city borders, are more likely to have low intercity movement. Our results show that children, older adults, women, low-income individuals, and geographically peripheral populations in rural areas are mobility-disadvantaged, providing insights for policymakers and rural planners for achieving social equality by targeting the right groups.

Impact of Administrative Division and Regional Accessibility on Rural Mobility in the Pearl River Delta: Evidence from Cellphone Big Data

Mobility plays a critical role in promoting rural development. However, the current knowledge regarding the factors that influence mobility between rural towns is limited. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of administrative division and regional accessibility on rural mobility to inform development policies and strategies. The administrative division is demarcated by district and city boundaries, and regional accessibility is assessed using various modes of transportation, including cars, high-speed railways (HSRs), and intercity commuter railways (ICRs). A flow-based geographically weighted regression (FGWR) method is employed based on mobile phone signaling data to quantify the associations and identify the local effects of these factors in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The findings suggest that both administrative division and regional accessibility significantly influence rural mobility. Specifically, the effects of district boundaries on commuting mobility are more pronounced in the central areas along the Pearl River, while the effects of city boundaries on non-commuting mobility between the core area and surrounding regions are more significant. With regard to regional accessibility, cars are the preferred mode of transportation for connections between the core areas of cities along the Pearl River, whereas HSR is favored more for non-commuting trips between the northwest and center regions. This study provides novel empirical insights into the understanding of rural mobility and has significant implications for promoting regional integration.

The effect of rural roads on consumption in Ethiopia

PurposeThis study empirically examines the impact of rural roads on consumption of households in Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approachBoth descriptive statistics and econometric techniques are used to address the aforementioned objective. Specifically, quantile regression, fixed- and random-effect models are used to understand the impact of rural road quality on welfare.FindingsThe econometric analysis revealed that improving the quality of rural roads and/or creating access to all-weather roads raises households' average real consumption per capita by as much as 10%. The other transport indicator – mode of transport – also has a positive effect on real consumption per capita. The result indicated that real consumption per capita for households using the traditional mode of transport would increase by as much as 7% compared to those using foot as a major mode of transport. However, the fixed quantile estimation result revealed that rural road access has a positive and significant effect on consumption per capita only for the 0.8th and 0.9th percentiles, indicating that the access to roads is not pro-poor.Research limitations/implicationsImproving rural roads to a level of all-weather road standards and provision of agricultural transport facilities should be strategic priorities.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence pertinent to the effect rural mobility has on the consumption of households as well as the pro-poorness of such investments in rural settings.

Factors Affecting Disabled Consumer Preferences for an Electric Vehicle for Rural Mobility: An Italian Experimental Study

Although it is often assumed that physically disabled individuals have different behaviors towards environment, there has been very little empirical evidence supporting this statement. For this reason, this study aimed to explain the different behaviors and preferences of potential users by analyzing their attitudes towards an electric vehicle specifically designed for rural mobility. In other words, this study analyzed both the willingness of disabled people to drive an electric vehicle and their willingness to pay (WTP) for such a vehicle. A total of 209 data were collected from a sample of physically disabled consumers in Italy using a structured questionnaire. Therefore, a stated preferences Italian dataset was used, and an exploratory factor analysis, a probit model, and an ordered logit regression model were applied. The results suggested that to encourage the use of electric cars for rural mobility, it should be necessary to manage environmental concerns, vehicle-related attributes, attitudes towards eco-friendly cars, people’s emotional experience, and their purchase intention. In addition, to improve customer intention, development plans and service features must be synergistically organized to mutually support each other.

Disorderly freedom: Changes in family relations in rural China

The period of reform and opening-up that occurred between 1978 and 1991 revolutionised what had been the economic structure of the People’s Republic of China since its foundation, changing the traditional social structure that had endured for thousands of years in rural settings. This change had a significant impact on rural mobility in contemporary China; it brought about a shift in the rural population’s values and led directly to the largest migrant mobility in China’s history. This article analyses these changes in terms of family and marriage and their consequences for rural families. The method employed was ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Sichuan Province. 7 men and 14 women, aged between 25 and 64 took part in the research and were both members of different families, as well as teachers involved in the education of their children. The information obtained from these 21 people was supplemented with data from other sources, including references in the literature and statistics. The results show that the changes taking place in Chinese family and rural society are of such magnitude that traditional values are being replaced by others associated with economic activity and a new individualism. Additionally, the effects of the phenomenon of left behind children are shown.

The Well That Wept Blood

Abstract This article uses the oral myth of a blood-weeping water well from a small city in the Amazon River to discuss the origins and the significance of haunted waterscapes for Black Amazonians. According to this myth, a well that still exists on the lands of an ancient sugar plantation weeps blood to mourn the slaves whose bodies were carelessly thrown there after a life of exploitation and abuse. The article tracks the history of the myth by interrogating its Indigenous substrate, its arrival to Amazonia in the nineteenth century thanks to Bantu-speaking enslaved Africans, and its additional twenty-first-century changes in a context of post–military dictatorship Black rural mobilization. It points to the centrality of haunted waterscapes and slave ghostlore in present-day processes of identity building and Black mobilization in Amazonia (Brazil), and highlights the necessity to study analog processes across the African diaspora in the Americas.

Experiences of Young People and Their Carers with a Rural Mobile Mental Health Support Service: A Qualitative Study.

Mental health difficulties during teenage years are common. They are also a risk factor for later mental and physical health problems. Rural young people are at a greater risk for mental health difficulties and have less access to services than their urban counterparts. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of young people and their carers with mental health support provided by a rural mobile service, and to identify access enablers from the perspective of the service users. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyse twelve interviews with current service users and eight interviews with family members of young people who had accessed the service. Three main themes were identified: (a) access and flexibility, (b) the qualities and strategies of the clinicians, and (c) experiences of change. The mobile service was perceived to be effective in producing a positive change in mental health, relationships, and the attainment of life goals. Key enablers to access included the flexibility of the mobile service, the variety of service delivery modes and therapeutic methods offered, the ease of access facilitated by the location in schools, and the autonomy of young people in how they chose to utilise the service. This study provides information about what is important to rural young people and their families in the provision of mental health services. The findings have implications for changing the way services are organized and operated. Healthcare policies and services could support a user-led model design that incorporates access and use-enablers and removes barriers to rural mental health support.

Impact of Topography on Rural Cycling Patterns: Case Study of Bugesera District, Rwanda

Rural mobility in Africa is an under-researched issue. Rural communities have often suffered from reduced mobility that has hampered their access to essential services and facilities such as education, health care, food, and clean water. In many rural communities, a more affordable mobility option, such as non-motorized mobility (cycling and walking), is the preferred way for people to travel. Apart from its well-known advantages, little is known about the impact of topography and routes on the mobility options adopted by rural communities. Therefore, this study aims to use Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to analyze the impact of topography and routes on rural mobility patterns at the level of formal and informal cycle track networks in the Bugesera District, focusing on the Nyamata and Mayange sectors, Rwanda. This study used GPS devices given to 50 participants to collect mobility patterns in the two previously mentioned sectors. Then, the study imposed a 30-m buffer on the official road networks of Rwanda collected by the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA). These data were joined to GPS tracks to highlight official and unofficial roads (tracks that did not fall within the 30-m buffer). In addition, Digital Elevation Models were applied to analyze the SRTM (30 m resolution) and ALOS PALSAR (12.5 m resolution) elevation data of the Bugesera region. The findings revealed an elevation range of 1333 to 1535 for SRTM and 1323 to 1641 for ALOS PALSAR. The study calculated the slope to find the slope percentage (m) and length (m). The findings from the DEMs and the slope calculation revealed that Bugesera has a relatively flat surface, favorable for cycling. The slope percentage was further classified into five levels of slope ranging from steep to very steep. And the Van Zuidam classification results confirmed that Bugesera has “a flat or nearly flat surface, without significant denudation processes”. With a favorable topography and a higher bicycle ownership ratio, residents of the Bugesera district favor cycling in their daily activities more than any district in Rwanda. Cycling in Nyamata or Mayange links residents to areas with higher social, educational, administrative, and economic activities.

To migrate or not to migrate: Internet use and migration intention among rural youth in developing countries (case of Malang, Indonesia)

In developing countries, the emigration of rural youth remains a persistent phenomenon, attracting research on the rural mobility of the younger generations. Meanwhile, today's digital era allows the Internet to induce information accessibility. Rural youth covers the largest share of Internet users among the rural population, implying higher possibilities for them to use the Internet for various migration-related purposes. However, literature to date has not focused on Internet use among rural youth in developing countries in conjunction with the build-up process of their migration intention. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of Internet use on the build-up process of migration intention among rural youth in developing countries. This research employs four statistical analyses (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Kendall's Tau, and stepwise regression) to examine socio-demographic profiles, common/specific Internet uses, other information gatherings, and migration intention in Tambakasri Village, Malang, Indonesia. The results indicate that Internet use enables rural youth to overcome remoteness by connecting to the outside world. Although common Internet uses appear to affect the build-up process of migration intention among rural youth negatively, specific Internet uses show positive impacts. Despite the opposite trends, the adverse effects are insignificant to the positive impacts. Therefore, Internet use maintains a generally positive impact on the intention to migrate. However, they favor the Internet less to search for migration-related information due to low network quality and the activities of active migrants. They rely heavily on migration-specialized companies as their primary source of migration-related information. In general, rural youth have not utilized the Internet's full potential, suggesting a more vigorous promotion of digital literacy for rural areas in less developing countries. It should induce the awareness of rural youth on opportunities in their villages, encouraging them to develop their rural origins and promoting a better-managed flow of workforce.