The Urban-rural Nexus

Abstract

The growth of industries and cities is in many ways dependent on the agricultural sector, and thus indirectly on rural areas. In the past, the agricultural development has accelerated the growth of many cities, while, on the other hand, the growth of cities in various regions had a pervasive impact on agricultural production. Nevertheless, populations in general remained rural in character and were mainly involved in agricultural production until the Industrial Revolution. Since then, not only have the cities changed tremendously, but modernization has also changed agricultural production systems and thus the rural community. In this paper, our aim is to offer new insights into the complex modern interdependency between urban and rural areas resulting from extended urbanization towards the hinterland. We will mainly focus on the developed world and, we attempt to formulate (future) challenges for urban rural interaction resulting from a stylized model of town and hinterland interdependence. © 2006, JAPAN SECTION OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL. All rights reserved.