The Rural and Peripheral in Regional Development: An Alternative Perspective

281 Pages·2017·1.692 MB·English

by  Peter de Souza

The Rural and Peripheral
in Regional Development
The countryside has often been marginalised in discussions of economic and
societal development, in favour of the urban. This book aims to stimulate a
debate and a re-evaluation of how the concepts of the rural, peripheral and
marginal are treated in academia and policy.
Approaching this theme from geographic, demographic and economic
perspectives, Peter de Souza makes a compelling case for giving the periphery a
prominent role as an integral part of a holistic and balanced society. The book
carefully deconstructs the concept of the urban, and critiques the idea of urban-
rural or centre-periphery comparisons, and presents an alternative approach to
spark future discussions.
The Rural and Peripheral in Regional Development will be of interest to those
studying and researching in the areas of rural economics, sustainability and
development, as well as those involved in rural policymaking.
Peter de Souza is a Doctor of Economics and Associate Professor at the Inland
Norway University of Applied Sciences. He has also worked at the universities
of Göteborg, Uppsala and Örebro in Sweden, and has worked extensively as a
consultant on regional and local development issues. A former member of the
International Board of Regional Studies Association and Chairman of its Nordic
Section, he is author of T erritorial Production Complexes in the Soviet Union (1989)
and co-editor of T owards New Nordic Regions (2008) and R egional Development in
Northern Europe (2012).
Regions and Cities
Series Editor in Chief
Joan Fitzgerald, Northeastern University, USA
Editors
Ron Martin, University of Cambridge, UK
Maryann Feldman, University of North Carolina, USA
Gernot Grabher, HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany
Kieran P. Donaghy, Cornell University, USA
In today’s globalised, knowledge-driven and networked world, regions and cities
have assumed heightened signifi cance as the interconnected nodes of economic,
social and cultural production, and as sites of new modes of economic and ter-
ritorial governance and policy experimentation. This book series brings together
incisive and critically engaged international and interdisciplinary research on
this resurgence of regions and cities, and should be of interest to geographers,
economists, sociologists, political scientists and cultural scholars, as well as to
policy-makers involved in regional and urban development.
For more information on the Regional Studies Association visit www.
regionalstudies.org
There is a 30% discount available to RSA members on books in the Regions
and Cities series, and other subject related Taylor and Francis books and e-books
including Routledge titles. To order just e-mail Joanna Swieczkowska, Joanna.
[email protected], or phone on [phone] and declare
your RSA membership. You can also visit the series page at www.routledge.com/
Regions-and-Cities/book-series/RSA and use the discount code: RSA0901
126. Smart Transitions in City Regionalism
Territory, Politics and the Quest for Competitiveness and Sustainability
Tassilo Herrschel and Yonn Dierwechter
125. Geopolitics of the Knowledge-Based Economy
Sami Moisio
124. The Rural and Peripheral in Regional Development
An Alternative Perspective
Peter de Souza
123. In The Post-Urban World
Emergent Transformation of Cities and Regions in the Innovative Global Economy
Edited by Tigran Haas and Hans Westlund
The Rural and Peripheral
in Regional Development
An Alternative Perspective
Peter de Souza
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Peter de Souza
The right of Peter de Souza to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without
intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-415-79323-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-21118-3 (ebk)
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To Lisa

Contents
Preface x
1 What is this all about? Introductory positioning 1
Background and a general problem description 1
Development perspectives 3
Some contextual considerations 6
Bringing the basic argument into the book format 8
Peripheral/rural as in ‘negative’ 12
Picture, image, experience and analysis 15
Personal philosophy and methodological considerations 21
2 The periphery, the marginal and the rural:
conceptual discussion 24
Introduction 24
Peripheries and margins – peripheral and marginal 27
Synonyms, antonyms and categorisations 34
Experience 36
Rural and rurality 37
Somewhat concluding 42
3 Theory: limits and potentials 44
Some relevant classical theory 45
Theories of localisation, structures and spatial interaction 49
Some further perspectives on modern theoretical approaches 54
Theoretical fragments with implications towards the periphery 58
The entrepreneur 58
Social capital, economy and social entrepreneurship 59
Proximity 60
Focusing on knowledge and learning 61
Path dependency 62
Institutionalism 62
viii Contents
4 Measure what, with what and what does it represent? 64
The choice of the entities studied 66
The map and cartography as a measure and manifestation 66
Time and categories 67
The region and the local 69
Choice between variables – defi ning the outcome? 70
General remarks 70
Quantity and quality 70
Demographic variables and examples 72
Distance and accessibility 75
The mix of variables – indicators – defi ning the outcome? 80
General and general economic indicators 81
Contextual considerations 86
5 The urban deconstructed 88
Introduction 88
The urban-rural dichotomy 91
Aspects of urban size and economic growth 93
Some examples of deconstructing the urban 98
Urbanisation and refl ections on sub- and counter-urbanisation 100
Aspects of the urban structure 103
Density deconstructed 106
The extracted urban of the innovative environment 108
6 Geographic and demographic structures and processes 111
General introduction 111
Geography, location, distance, identity and culture 113
Geographies 113
Places, identities and cultures 127
Quality of life (QOL) 132
Demographic patterns and processes 135
Fertility 137
Age, gender and education 138
Mobility 141
7 Extended defi nitions: an alternative way to re-analyse 149
Innovation 149
Entrepreneurship 155
Contents ix
Context(s) 163
Issues of nature, climate and sustainability 165
Capitals in extension 166
Defi ning value, value production and value processes 172
8 Peripheral economics: some alternative approaches 179
Growth (maybe development) 182
Tracks to follow: knowledge 186
Tracks to follow: productivity 188
Tracks to follow: labour market 190
Finance – as in savings, credits and investment 195
Taxes, budgets, subsidies and ownership 197
9 Economic structures and structural changes 201
General refl ections 201
Production, technologies and activities 205
Structures: complementarity 207
Structures: size 208
Structural fragments: transport activities 210
Structural fragments: primary activities 211
Structural fragments: the case of agriculture 212
Structural fragments: the case of forestry and woodworking 215
Structural fragments: energy 217
Structural fragments: manufacturing 219
Structural fragments: the service sector 220
Structural fragments: new production – new economy 224
10 Policy frameworks 227
Introduction 227
Key themes in the framework discussion 230
Sectoral distinctions in a general framework 234
Geographical distinctions in a general framework 235
Organisational issues, potentials and defi ciencies 238
Policies, policy measures and criteria – staring into the future 240
Lessons to be learned: enlightening frameworks and examples 244
References 248
Index 267