CORE HUMAN Topic 6 very hard

• Rural settlements form an essential part of the human landscape, undergoing changes in HICs, MICs, and LICs due to rural-urban migration, urban-rural migration, urban growth, technological change, rural planning policies, and government funding distribution.
• The idea of a distinct rural society has been replaced by a rural-urban continuum, reflecting a spectrum from remote rural areas to highly urbanized areas with intermediate positions exhibiting mixed characteristics.
• Paul Cloke developed an 'index of rurality' for England and Wales, using variables like population density, land use, and remoteness.
• Rural areas are dynamic spatial entities, constantly changing due to economic, social, political, and environmental factors, with the pace of change accelerating in recent years.

Changing Rural Environments in the UK

• The rural economy is diversifying beyond farming with manufacturing, high technology, and the service sector, which are often small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), growing faster in rural areas than in urban areas.
• Recreation, tourism, and environmental conservation are also becoming significant new users of rural space.
• Economic shifts are causing social change with in-migration of specific groups, particularly middle-class individuals seeking affordable housing, influencing the social and physical characteristics of rural areas.
• In many areas, newcomers have dominated the housing market to the detriment of established locals, driving up house prices and forcing original families to move elsewhere.
• Gentrification is occurring in the countryside, eroding local communities despite increasing mobility of people, goods, and information.
• Post-war government policies aimed to limit urban expansion through green belts and allocation of housing to urban areas or large villages. This has resulted in rising owner-occupation, low levels of local-authority housing, and higher house prices with greater social exclusivity in smaller rural communities.
• Increased pressure on rural resources has led to re-evaluating government policies, increasing regulation of sustainability and environmental conservation.

Changing Agriculture

• Agricultural land covers 73% of the UK, yet less than 2% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, a significant drop from 6.1% in 1950 and 2.9% in 1970.
• Agriculture and related industries account for less than 15% of employment in the most rural areas.
• Farm sizes have steadily risen, causing significant hedgerow loss, impacting ecological networks, and lower-than-average agricultural wages, making farmers among the working poor.
• Farmers are diversifying both within and outside agriculture to sustain their livelihoods. However, over-supply in diversification efforts can lead to further rural decline.

Counterurbanisation and the Rural Landscape

• Counterurbanisation has surpassed urbanisation as the primary driver of settlement patterns, leading to a 'rural population turnaround' in areas previously experiencing depopulation.
• Green-belt limitations near cities have shifted counterurbanisation impacts beyond these areas, where commuting is viable, causing substantial growth and altered character in rural settlements.
• Metropolitan villages are evolving through conversion of working buildings into houses, ribbon development along roads, and planned additions like council or private housing estates.

Rural Depopulation

• Due to counterurbanisation since the 1960s, areas affected by rural depopulation have diminished, now mostly confined to isolated regions or areas of dire economic conditions.
• A model of rural depopulation illustrates the process: population decreases, ageing, lower birth rates, young adults migrating for better opportunities, reducing business services, and cutting social service provision.

The Issue of Rural Services

• Services like shops, post offices, and healthcare enhance community belonging and sustainability, but rural services have declined significantly, impacting quality of life, especially for those without cars.
• A 2008 report revealed nearly half of communities lost key local services in the previous four years, warning of a 'forgotten city of disadvantage' for poorer rural residents.
• Government accused of masterminding the 'near certain death of the village post office', with plans to close 2500 branches. Schools face closures due to funding rules, and GP surgeries are at risk due to promotion of 'polyclinics'.
• Actions with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) cite market forces, changing rural population patterns, and changing expectations of rural residents as reasons for the decline in rural service.

Key Villages

• Between the 1950s and 1970s, the concept of key settlements was central to rural settlement policy in Britain, particularly where depopulation was occurring. The concept relates to central place theory and assumes that focusing services, facilities and employment in one selected settlement will satisfy the essential needs of the surrounding villages and hamlets.
• Devon introduced a key settlement policy in 1964 to counter rural depopulation, changing village functions, decline in agricultural employment, and public transport contraction.

The Rural Transport Problem

• Increased car ownership has negatively impacted public transport, isolating the poor, elderly, and young people.
• A lack of public transport compels low-income households to own a car, an additional expense increased by rising fuel prices.
• There is ongoing concern regarding the potential closure of rural railway lines, with branch lines possibly replaced by buses, which may only serve half of the former rail passengers.

The Rural Housing Problem

• A lack of affordable village housing has resulted in a large number of young people having to move to market towns or larger urban centres.
• Only 12 per cent of rural housing is subsidized, compared with 25 per cent in urban areas.
• The 1995 White Paper on Rural Development sought to improve the rural housing situation by exempting villages with fewer than 3000 inhabitants from the right-to-buy for housing-association tenants.
• The government also announced plans to speed up the disposal of Ministry of Defense (MoD) housing. It estimated that there were 13000 empty MoD homes in the UK, many of them in rural areas.
• The issue of second homes has become increasingly contentious.

Contemporary Issues in Rural Settlements in LICs.

• Rural urban migration has been the main process affecting rural settlements. The impact of such migration has varied considerably across rural communities in LICs.
• The advantages of rural urban migration has been considered advantageous by providing a safety valve in reducing rural population growth and pressure on food, water and other resources. Helping to limit unemployment and underemployment, and providing a valuable source of income through the remittances of migrants.
• Rural urban migration has resulted into rural depopulation, closure of public and private services and an aging population.
• Insufficient labor can often lead to hinderance of agricultural production at its former levels.
• The devastating impact of AIDS in certain countries like Botswana and Lesotho, has lead to rural depopulation in many areas.
• Political instability and civil strife can affect rural areas.
• Ill defined property rights or rights to agricultural lands can largely affect poor and impoverished nations.

Case Study: The Isle of Purbeck - Issues in Rural Settlement

• The Isle of Purbeck forms the southeastern part of Purbeck District in Dorset.
• The population of Purbeck has risen over the last 40 years but at varying rates by parish. Its older population is due to its popularity for retirement and out-migration of young adults looking for better opportunities.
• The rural housing problem is compounded by high housing costs beyond the reach for many local people.

Rural Service Decline

• Dorset County Council sees access to services as a key issue. Continuous service Decline can have a huge impact on rural populations.
• Public services are not lost as quickly as private services.
• service decline makes people more reliant on transport, both public and private.

Contemporary Issues in Rural Settlements in LICs

• Rural services can come in the form of services, shopping, posts and more these enhance the community and provide residents access to healthcare.
• Rural areas has decreased due to factors like high rents and costs.

The Decline of Public Transport

• Limited public transport and railway transportation negatively affects rural areas.
• There can also be issues due to opportunity deprivation due to a lack of health services and jobs.
• Mobility deprivation is high due to issues involving getting to the Isle of Purbeck.

Urban trends and issues of urbanization

• Gordon Child introduced the term Urban revolution to describe the change in society when the first cities emerged.
• The Catalyst for the period of change was the Neolithic Revolution which occurred back in 8000 BCE.

Urban development

• By 1801, nearly one-tenth of the population was living in cities of over 100,000 people. This doubled in 40 years.

Urban industrial Revolution

• By the beginning of the most recent stage of urban development in 1950, 27 percent of people lived in towns and cities.
• Throughout history urbanization and significant economic progress have tended to occur together.

Contemporary Trends

• Some areas have seen rapid urban growth outpacing economic development, creating problems for planners and politicians.
• Economic theories discuss the capitalist global economy and concentrate on locations that have best economics depending on supply.

The Cycle of Urbanisation

• A sequence of processes that the development of urban settlements can been seen as.
• Key procedures and landscape results: suburbanisation, reurbanisation and counterurbanisation.