RURAL PLANNING
This thematic group focuses on rural planning research and practice. It recognises that, in the course of the last century, rural areas have undergone significant transformations and change; they are not simply defined by primary production or dependent on urban areas. Instead they are characterised by economic differentiation, pressures to compete in a globalised economy and often represent critical spaces for planning intervention (addressing planetary challenges such as climate change) and conflict (for example through mediating priorities between economic development, environmental conservation, tourism pressures and housing demand). The thematic group challenges narratives that portray rural areas as conservative, stagnant, or idyllic. Instead, it explores the emerging, context-specific challenges of rural spatial development and governance, particularly in an era shaped by increased mobility, land use conflict, and political change.
