por He urban and rural development it refers to the regional progress of these areas, including people and companies, which is crucial for sustainable development.
This is especially the case for low- and middle-income countries, which are undergoing an urban transition, and for countries where employment opportunities must be created in both urban and rural areas for a young and growing population.
It can be highlighted that the rural-urban divide is actually lessening, where the links and interactions between people and companies in rural and urban settlements are becoming stronger.
Rural-urban linkages and interactions are increasingly important elements of production and livelihood systems in most regions of the world. According to World Bank data, the proportion of rural population has decreased worldwide between 1960 and 2017 from 67% to 45%.
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Characteristics of urban and rural development
The one characteristic shared by the rural-urban link everywhere is complexity. These rural-urban linkages are best defined as a tangled web of rural-urban connections, rather than a direct relationship.
While in many cases urban policies remain oblivious to rural perspectives, rural policies also do not see the importance of urban centers for rural development.
Urban Development
Urban development is characterized by the increase in basic services and their quality in cities, mainly for the low-income population. This process must be directed efficiently by regional governments formulating development programs in accordance with their reality.
In economic terms, urban areas are often sites of innovation, because they can enjoy the benefits of proximity, especially the concentration of people and businesses in that area.
Metropolitan areas are nodal points of a globalized economy. They have interdependent relationships with metropolitan areas in other parts of the world, sometimes closer than with rural areas in the same country.
However, urban areas bear specific loads, such as pollution or housing shortages.
Rural development
Rural development is characterized by the initiatives and actions carried out to improve the quality of life of rural communities. These communities, which comprise almost half of the entire planetary population, coincide in having a low demographic density.
Rural development involves various dimensions. On the one hand, strengthening the human condition itself, in addition to growing in the technical, organizational and cultural training of farmers.
On the other, increase performance, achieve productive improvements and obtain resources with less effort in the same space. All this with a criterion that manages the conservation of the environment and the use of production systems and techniques that respect the condition of the natural environment and the historical legacy.
Examples of urban and rural development
Europe
It is estimated that in the coming decades 80% of Europeans will live in cities. This will widen the contrast between prosperous urban areas compared to shrinking peripheral areas with weak growth potential.
The most important challenges for urban and rural areas are represented by the process of adjustment to new economies and climate change.
It seeks to achieve as a form of progress to accelerate the process of urban agglomeration in small development centers, in addition to increasing the penetrability of rural sites.
The functional interrelationship between urban and rural areas is decisive. Achievements in rural sustainability and its resilience in the face of decline are deeply linked to the urban economy.
The main engines that stimulate the rural economy continue to be both the mobility system, which allows access to urban labor markets, and the influx and circulation of people coming from the city.
India
One topic of discussion is the rural and urban divide and how these two economies are increasingly drifting apart. Growth has not only been skewed towards urban India, but has also been gained at the expense of the countryside.
This goes back to economic decisions made after India gained independence in 1947. At the time, policies emphasized strong urban infrastructure and industrialization, rather than agricultural investment, leading to rural imbalance.
However, the rural economy is no longer limited to agriculture. Rural India has diversified into non-agricultural activities, bringing cities much closer to its hinterlands.
Studies indicate that a 10% increase in urban spending is associated with a 5% increase in rural nonfarm employment. As supply chains in the country strengthen, rising urban demand could provide a significant boost to the rural economy.
Urban and rural development in Mexico
Urban Development
Much of the demographic increase in Mexico for the next decades will be urban. This means that by 2030 the nation will go from 380 cities to 960, where 83% of the national population will be concentrated.
If the pattern of territorial expansion that defines Mexican cities is maintained, these scenarios can be observed:
The times, distances and costs of urban routes will increase. Social costs will increase, requiring more investment to achieve greater connectivity.
Irregular human settlements will tend to expand, due to the lack of well-located habitable land, since the best peripheral urban facilities will be absorbed by the formal real estate market.
This represents a formidable challenge for Mexico, because the cities are where the political, productive, cultural and scientific forces are centralized, to such an extent that the well-being of the country is deposited in them.
Rural development
Rural policies in Mexico cannot be understood without the revolution produced in 1910 and the agrarian reform of 1917. These events established the base on which reforms were established in the political, economic and indigenous fields, which fixed the style of rural development of the Next years.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, the country has implemented a sustainable rural development approach that, together with the territorial vision, promises new horizons for the rural environment and the countryside.
However, these approaches are being tested, and it is important to carry out studies and evaluations on the direction that these models take in practice, in order to determine their feasibility in contexts of changing rurality.
A conclusion in the academic world is the requirement to consider the rural phenomenon in an integral way, and although this is recognized as a theoretical reflection, it is not possible to materialize in government action.
References
UN Habitat (2020). Distinctions between rural and urban. Taken from: onuhabitat.org.mx.
Knowledge Wharton (2007). Does Urban Development Drive Rural Growth in India? Taken from: knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu.
UN Habitat (2017). Urban development trends in Mexico. Taken from: onuhabitat.org.mx.
Francisco Herrera Tapia (2013). Rural development approaches and policies in Mexico: A review of its institutional construction. Heaven. Taken from: scielo.org.mx.
Christian Hoffman (2020). Urban and rural development. Science for the Carpathians. Taken from: carpathianscience.org.