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Directorate for Public Governance

Rural-urban linkages

 

80% OF THE RURAL POPULATION LIVE CLOSE TO CITIES

  • Urban and rural areas enjoy different and often complementary assets, and better integration between these areas is important for socio-economic performance.

  • Potential linkages include demographic, labour, public services and environment aspects.

  • Local governments alone cannot manage these interactions alone in developing both urban and rural populations.

  • The OECD looks at how governance can evolve to help manage this integration and influence the prosperity of places and people.

  • Rural-urban partnerships can enhance and better manage rural- urban relationships
  • Rural-urban partnerships are an effective way to respond to the need to govern these interactions and to foster economic development and well-being.

 

WHY PARTNERSHIPS?

  • Urban and rural territories are interconnected through different types of linkages that often cross traditional administrative boundaries.

  • Effective rural-urban partnerships can help attain economic development objectives for both.

  • Stronger connections facilitate better access to jobs, amenities and different types of services.

  • Rural-urban partnerships help regions to: enhance the production of public goods; achieve economies of scale in public service provision and can help develop new economic opportunities.

 

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?

  • Involving the private sector, which plays a crucial role in enhancing the connection to the regional economy, remains a challenge.

  • Co-operation can be difficult when there is a large difference in size, resources and capacity between urban and rural areas.

  • Other factors barriers to effective partnerships include regulatory and political obstacles, lack of trust and policy fragmentation.

 

A NATIONAL URBAN AGENDA

  • Governments can encourage the integration of urban and rural policies by working towards a common national agenda.

  • National government should encourage better integration across policy sectors, such as between agricultural and regional development policy.
 

 

TOGETHER TOWARDS THE NEW URBAN AGENDA  



 

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This report provides a framework to understand the changing relationships between urban and rural areas.  

IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH 'RURBAN' PARTNERSHIPS

Stronger connections between urban and rural areas facilitate better access to jobs, amenities and different types of services.

POPULATION GROWTH LINKAGES

Paper on how population growth in rural regions is affected by the relationship with their nearby urban centers

STRATEGIES FOR RURAL-URBAN PARTNERSHIPS

Slide presentation on building rural-urban partnerships.