Changing agriculture:
- Agricultural land is 73% of UK’s land area, but less than
2% of total workforce is now employed in agriculture.
- Size of farms has steadily increased.
- Significant loss in hedgerows, which provide important
ecological networks.
- Agricultural wages are significantly below national avg.,
so farmers are among poorest of the working poor.
- As many farmers have struggled to make a living from
traditional agricultural practices, a growing no. have
sought to diversify.
o E.g. farm shops, B&Bs…
Counterurbanisation & rural landscape:
- Green belt restrictions have limited impact of CU in
many areas adjacent to cities.
- Greatest impact of CU has thus been just beyond green
belts where commuting is still viable, so rural
settlements have grown substantially and changed in
character.
- Depopulation now generally confined to the most
isolated areas of the country, but there are exceptions
where economic conditions are esp. dire.
o Unmarried young adults migrate to regional
centres for better socio-economic opportunities.
o Rural pop. decreases, ages and births fall below
replacement level.
o Reduction in business services due to falling
demand (e.g. bus services, post offices).
, o Key social service provision cut, e.g. primary
schools.
o Loss of services induces further out-migration of
young families and ensures that in-migration is
minimal.
o Ageing pop. left behind, with high dependency.
Issue of rural services:
- Rural services have been in decline for no. of decades,
impacting heavily upon q. of l. of many ppl, esp. those
without a car.
- In England, this has largely been due to:
o Effect of market forces / arrival of supermarkets in
local areas which local services can’t compete with.
o More mobile residents with different consumer
patterns now a greater part of rural life.
o Rural residents no longer content with relatively
poor & expensive services and often with the
means to access better services elsewhere.
- 1950s-1970s, gov. used concept of key villages in rural
settlement policy.
- Focusing services, facilities and employment in one
selected settlement would satisfy essential needs of
surrounding villages/hamlets.
- With falling demand, dispersed services would decline
rapidly in areas vulnerable to depopulation.
- Only way to maintain good level of service provision in
such an area would be to focus on locations with
- Agricultural land is 73% of UK’s land area, but less than
2% of total workforce is now employed in agriculture.
- Size of farms has steadily increased.
- Significant loss in hedgerows, which provide important
ecological networks.
- Agricultural wages are significantly below national avg.,
so farmers are among poorest of the working poor.
- As many farmers have struggled to make a living from
traditional agricultural practices, a growing no. have
sought to diversify.
o E.g. farm shops, B&Bs…
Counterurbanisation & rural landscape:
- Green belt restrictions have limited impact of CU in
many areas adjacent to cities.
- Greatest impact of CU has thus been just beyond green
belts where commuting is still viable, so rural
settlements have grown substantially and changed in
character.
- Depopulation now generally confined to the most
isolated areas of the country, but there are exceptions
where economic conditions are esp. dire.
o Unmarried young adults migrate to regional
centres for better socio-economic opportunities.
o Rural pop. decreases, ages and births fall below
replacement level.
o Reduction in business services due to falling
demand (e.g. bus services, post offices).
, o Key social service provision cut, e.g. primary
schools.
o Loss of services induces further out-migration of
young families and ensures that in-migration is
minimal.
o Ageing pop. left behind, with high dependency.
Issue of rural services:
- Rural services have been in decline for no. of decades,
impacting heavily upon q. of l. of many ppl, esp. those
without a car.
- In England, this has largely been due to:
o Effect of market forces / arrival of supermarkets in
local areas which local services can’t compete with.
o More mobile residents with different consumer
patterns now a greater part of rural life.
o Rural residents no longer content with relatively
poor & expensive services and often with the
means to access better services elsewhere.
- 1950s-1970s, gov. used concept of key villages in rural
settlement policy.
- Focusing services, facilities and employment in one
selected settlement would satisfy essential needs of
surrounding villages/hamlets.
- With falling demand, dispersed services would decline
rapidly in areas vulnerable to depopulation.
- Only way to maintain good level of service provision in
such an area would be to focus on locations with
