The Dictionary of Human Geography

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late-modernwar; and thestateregulation of

migrancy andmobility. These issues are

urgent reminders that the production and

transformation of the rural is by no means

confined to the global North and is every-

where enmeshed with globalization (cf.

Woods, 2007; McCarthy, 2008). Despite the

predictions of the imminent demise of the

peasantry in the global South and the depopu-

lation of the countryside in the North, the

rural continues to be a site of political contest-

ation, from debates over the agricultural policy

of the European Union to the resurgence of

rural protest in China. dg/jl/mw

Suggested reading

Cloke, Marsden and Mooney (2006); Murdoch

and Marsden (1994).

rural planning The attempt to organize and

control the distribution ofdevelopmentand

resourcesacross rural areas: concerns include

the management of land-use change (seeland

use and land-cover change) in relation to the

built and some aspects of the natural environ-

ment, as well as economic and social issues.

Rural planning in the developed world has

two main functions: first, the strategic alloca-

tion of development through the production

of frameworks and principles for resource

distribution andconservation; and, second,

the control of the alteration, growth and

design of the built form (cf. zoning).

Tensions have frequently arisen in planning

for rural areas between the many demands

on rural land, particularly in the context of

the changing importance of farming and

foodproduction. In addition, pressure from

counter-urbanizationin many parts of the

developed world has introduced conflicts

within rural planning between the desire to

conserve the natural environment and provide

housing in desirable residential areas. In some

rural areas, land-use designations such as

national parkshave sought to maintain tight

control on development and resource use in

the most valued environments. In developing

countries, emphasis is placed less on control

but, rather, on the generation of economic

growth in the distribution of resources and

the organization of agricultural development.

The study of rural planning during the

1970s and early 1980s was largely descriptive

and uncritical. From the late 1980s, however,

greater attention was paid to thepowerrela-

tions within which planning operated, includ-

ing the influence of social class over the

allocation of resources and the broader stra-

tegic direction of the planning process (Cloke

and Little, 1990). Particular attention was

given to the role of environmental politics in

shaping planning agendas and outcomes

(Williams, 2001). More recently, these discus-

sions have been set within understandings of

the shifting nature ofgovernancewithin rural

communitiesand of the relevance of new

decision-making structures and responsibil-

ities (Goodwin, 1998). Work on the emer-

gence of new forms of rural politics has also

helped to inform contemporary research on

rural planning (see Woods, 2006). jl

Suggested reading

Lapping (2006); Woods and Goodwin (2003).

rural^urban continuum A once-popular

hypothesized continuous gradation of ways of

life between rural areas and large cities. It

assumed a polarization of attitudes and behav-

iours between idealruralsituations, on the

one hand – characterized bycommunitiesbuilt

around kinship, attachment to place and

co-operation (what To ̈nnies (1955) referred

to asGemeinschaft) – and large cities, on the

other – characterized bysocietiesdominated

by impersonal, especially market, relationships

(Gesellschaft). Although some empirical studies

found patterns consistent with the hypothesis,

it was largely demolished by studies – such

as Pahl’s (1965) – that identified village-like

communities within cities and urban traits

spreading into the countryside. rj

rustbelt A descriptive term for the area

of declining manufacturing industries in the

north-east of the USA, now more widely

applied to any area of industrial decline

(cf.sunbelt/snowbelt). rj

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RURAL PLANNING