Emergent rural–urban relations in Covid-19 disturbances: Multi-locality affecting sustainability of rural change

Abstract

The recent Covid-19 pandemic highlighted rural–urban interactions, in particular the fact that cities are dependent on the accessibility of non-metropolitan and rural spaces and vice versa. This article seeks to understand how these interactions contributed to emergent relational spaces of rurality during the Covid-19 crisis. The article analyses politicised mobilities between localities and rural–urban linkages that are tied to the sustainability of rural change. The study focuses on two countries: Estonia and Finland, exploring thematic narratives on second-home practices and related politics during the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis. The explored regions were the South Savo region in Finland and the island of Saaremaa and northern coastal villages in Estonia. The analysis indicates ways in which the mobility restrictions and disturbances triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic attributed certain demands and hopes to rural areas and led the shift in rural–urban interactions. The article contributes to the understanding of co-existences between im/mobilities and multi-local living and sustainability in rural change.