Rregard
ings the first aspect, many rural areas are now witnessing the birth of a di
fferentiatedstinct spatial reality. The term “new rurality”
[[8][9][10][11] 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ] refers to the reconstructed forms of organi
zsation and the functional transformations
that are being observed in spaces that previously had a rural identity and that are now evolving towards a different category of rural space
. [ 19 , 20 ][12][13]. Although the meanings assigned to this term by different theorists do not always coincide
, —in particular, there are significant conceptual differences between European
[ 21 ][14] and Latin American
[authors 22 ] authors., 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]—
, it is generally accepted that the essential features of this “new rurality” consist of a
greatern increased mobility of people and
merchandisegoods, the diversification of economic activities and a modification of
the use of the land. soil land use [ 29 , 30 ][22][23].
A major socioeconomic transformation that has taken place in many areas is
that of “deagrariani
zsation”
[ 31 [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31],
32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37or , 38], tha
t is, the reduction in the importance of ag
riculturalrarian activities, in terms of employed population and income
, and the corresponding
ly greater weight of non-agr
iculturalarian forms of
employment. The degrarizoccupation. Deagrarianisation leads to a progressive loss of traditional ways of life, s
ouch that agr
iculturalarian activity ceases to constitute the economic base and the main hallmark of rurality. It is a process that responds to the new productive and territorial logics of the globali
zsed economy and
that hahas been associated with derurali
zsation
[ 39[32] ] from a perspective based on the premise—
tquite questionable in our opinion—that the rural environment can be fully identified with agricultural activity. As
far aconcerns Spain
is concerned, deagrariani
zsation
[[33][34][35] 40 , 41 , 42] has been cited among the structural causes of the rural exodus, with
sp
ecialarticular reference to the moderni
zsation of ag
riculturalrarian activity
[ 43 ][36]. For this reason, it is often
svie
en as a wed as an effect that is generali
zed effect sed and not exclusive to urbani
zsed rural areas.
Another significant change,
as a general
ly rule complementary to the
previous onabove, is the shift in patterns of employment and economic activity towards the service
s sector, together with the acquisition of a subsidiary residential function with the construction of second homes for the urban population
[ 44 , 45 , 46 ][37][38][39].
The historical interaction between rural and urban spaces has
be
en constantly evolvingvolved incessantly, profoundly transforming
the relations
hips between the countryside and the city
[[40] 47 ] and blurring the boundaries between urban and rural environments.
HowNever
theless, significant differences
persistremain, and few authors question the existence of a rural
-–urban
gap. Furthermoredivide. Moreover, scholars have observed the gradual consolidation of fissures between different types of rural spaces
[ 48 [41][42][43],
49 , 50 ], although the
sey may be
maskconcealed by the regular occupational mobility of a large part of the rural population
[ 51 , 52 ][44][45].
It is almost universally
reac
ognizknowledged that the main driver of these changes is
'“rural urbani
zation'sation”. This process has m
ultipleany consequences, including the physical modification of the territory and changes in its socioeconomic structures
[ 53 , 54 , 55 ][46][47][48]. This urbani
zsation is functional, morphological, landscape
-based and cultural, and
occursit takes place not only in areas bordering or
with easreadily access
ible to large cities
, but also in more remote
areasterritories and those bordering medium-sized and even small cities
[ 56 [49][50][51],
57 , 58which ] , thus configur
inge micropolitan areas
[ 59 ][52].
The fact that urbani
zsation processes are the main factor triggering the territorial mutations that have occurred in many contemporary societies
[ 60 , 61 , 62[53][54][55] ] explains the primacy of the urban-centric
approachstandpoint that has been adopted in most studies
. about of rural areas, both past and p
ast. present
[ 63 , 64 ][56][57]. Thus, it is
very widely accepted that the revitali
zsation of rural spaces
goes throughtakes place via logics according to which they are
modified physically and socially
modified. These logics
also have an , moreover, impact
on the strategies used to obtain the economies of urban agglomeration, such as spatial externalities, from which some rural areas also benefit
[65[58][59][60][61][62][63]. ,In 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ]. Ccon
vetr
selyast, other spaces,
typicgenerally those in peripheral and marginal locations, may suffer
from the adverse effects
of refluxfrom backwash, a process associated with the c
ore-entre–periphery paradigm
[ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74].
The urban
-centric notion is also related to numerous concepts and words that have been coined to define the changing relations
hips between rural and urban
settingenvironments: “suburbani
zsation”
[ 82 [75][76],
83 ], “peri
-urbani
zsation”
[ 84 [77][78],
85 ], “rurbani
zsation”
[ 86 [79][80][81],
87 , 88 ], “exurbani
zsation”
[ 89 ][82], “rural urbanity”
[ 90 ][83], “rural gentrification”
[ 91 , 92 [84][85][86],
93 ], “urban countryside”, “infiltration of the city into the countryside”
[ 94][87], etc.
FurIn addit
hermoreion, some of these terms are closely related to a process that has been
calltermed “counter-urbani
zsation”
[ 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 ][88][89][90][91]. The proliferation of recent studies
tha
t address
ing these concepts highlights their conceptual interest and underlines the presence of a renewed dialogue between rural and urban geographies.
Another relevant consideration is the territorial concept of
a sprawltown
[ 99 [92][93][94],
100 , 101 ], also identified as “
città diffusa, campagna urbanizzata ”
[ 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 [95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103],
106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 ], characterized by the absence of vertical territorial hierarchies from the cent
re
r to the periphery, which are replaced by horizontal connections
betweenamong population cent
erres and by the dispersion of functions
[ 111 , 112 ][104][105].
It is now widely accepted that the
fo
ldrmer elements of differentiation between urban and rural contexts
are no longerhave ceased to be operational and that alternative approaches to spatial realities are required. One
of thesesuch approach
es involves the functional integration of the two types of geographic
al space
s, whose
hallmarkssigns of identity, such as agricultural activities, are weakening but have not
completentirely disappeared
[ 113 ][106]. One
resou
lttcome of these changes is the creation of multifunctional spaces and hybrid landscapes
[ 114 [107][108][109],
115 , 116 ], ambiguous spaces in which urban and rural
fechara
turecteristics fade or even disappear as clearly legible spatial units within the landscape
[ 117, 118 , 119 ][110][111][112].
Recent studies o
nf these
issuesquestions have adopted a more fully integrated perspective of geographic space,
movgoing beyond the dichotomous
viewstandpoint, which many believe reflects an anachronistic static perspective
[ 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 ][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125].
Geographic
al space has long been viewed and analy
zsed as a continuum, containing a gradual transition from urban to rural and vice versa, without
noticeremarkable territorial discontinuities
[ 133 ][126]. However, this interpretation has been
quchalle
stionnged by some authors
[[127] 134 ] and updated and reformulated by others
[ 135 , 136 , 137 ][128][129][130].
HowNever
theless, for most experts, the concept of
a spatial continuum is accepted as a gradient of
urban levels of urbanity/rural
ity levels[131] [ 138 ] or as cyclical phases of urbani
zsation
[ 139 ][132].
Some authors even deny the usefulness of t
he traditional terminology for different types of spaces (suburban, peri-urban and rururban),
affirclaiming that what has been configured is a new model of
a detachthe disassociated city that is post-industrial or even post-urban
[ 140 , 141 [133][134][135][136][137][138],
142 , 143 , 144 , 145 ], which should be
undviewe
rstood as a
n integrated joined-up mosaic of urban elements within a territorial matrix
[[139] 146 ] as
athe result of
a “metastatic metropolit
icizanisation”
[ 147 , 148 , 149 ][140][141][142].
The question of how rural a
nd areas a
nd zoning inre interrelate
d has attracted
increasgrowing interest since the
late 20end of the twentieth century
[ 150 ][143],
withand increasing
snumbers of studies
inhave been undertaken in this regard, influencing socio
-economic and land-use planning policies
. for rural areas and lead
ing to the adoption of new paradigmatic and methodological approaches. This new
standpoint
of view could might be seen as a
"“rejuvenation
"” of rural geographic studies, based on a scientific and epistemological renewal achieved through dialogue and debate
betweenamong rural and urban researchers seeking to
improvenhance our understanding of developments in this area
[ 151][144]. Although the contemporary approach to rural geography maintains some classic
al criteria, it also reveals new perspectives and
itakes increasing
ly interest
ed in the diverse practices and representations of the rural environment and its inhabitants
[ 152 , 153 , 154 ][145][146][147].
This evolving research focus first became apparent in the United States and Europe
[ 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169[148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164] , 170 , 171 ] and
then later in Latin America
[ 172 , 173 [165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172],
174 , 175 , 176 ,177 , 178 , 179 ], and i
t is currently be
coming accepted in Asia, especially
in China
[ 180 , 181 , 182 , 183 ][173][174][175][176]. In the latter country,
af
terollowing the accelerated urbani
zsation of the countryside under the model of state capitalism applied in China since the
end of thlate 1970s
[ 184 ][177],
dramat
hereic changes have
been drastic changestaken place in land use, with a large-scale conversion
offrom agrarian to urban practices. This development has attracted the attention of numerous researchers from different areas of knowledge, including geography, economics
, and e and the environmental sciences
[ 185 , 186 , 187, 188 , 189 , 190 ][178][179][180][181][182][183].
Numerous recent studies have analy
zsed and interpreted the functional territories
[[184] 191 ] resulting from rural
-–urban integration or hybridi
zsation
[[185][186][187][188] 192 , 193 , 194 , 195 ] in the
so-carea
lled termed the “rural-urban fringe”,
understooviewed as a space with its own
unique characteristic
s character[189][190].
[ 196 , 197 ]. This entity has also been described as the “
rur
al-urbanban-rural interface” and as
being composed of urbani
zsed rural areas, intermediate territories, in
termediate-between territories (TiBs), the territories of a new modernity
[[191][192] 198 , 199 ] or “hybrid geographies”.
Most studies o
nf these
issuesquestions have focused on the territorial transformations
derivedarising from economic and technical changes (de
grarizagrarianisation and
outsourcingtertiarisation, in particular) in the distribution of services and production cent
erres, in physical and virtual accessibility and, especially, in mobility
[ 200 ][193].
On the other hand, some recent analy
zses of rurality and urbanity
[ 201 ,[194][195] 202 ] continue to address quantifiable data such as population size
[ 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 [196][197][198][199][200],
207 ], population density and/or distances between settlements of different categories
[203, 204, 205, 206, 207] 208 , 209 ][201][202]. However, these indicators are relatively ineffective as a means of describing rurality
[ 210 [203][204][205],
211even ,the 212], including multivariate
ones
that incorporat
eing not only population density but also factors such as demographic dynamics, mobility patterns, migrations
, and distances to major service cent
erres
[ 213 , 214 , 215 , 216 , 217 ][206][207][208][209][210]. Very few analy
zses have also used geographic information techniques for territorial measurement
[ 218 , 219 ][211][212].
It has been observed that the effects of the urbani
zsation of rural spaces
mustshould be considered according to the specific conditions of both
the rural and
the urban spaces in which the process takes place
[ 220 ][213]. The r
ea
sontionale for this is that the dynamics of urbani
zsation do not occur in the same way or with the same intensity in all territories. In recent times, both the variety and the complexity of rural spaces have intensified; som
e are evolv
eing dynamically, while others are characteri
zsed by stagnation and decline.