1267 | | Rural depopulation in the context of rural shrinking: towards a multidimensional perspective | Javier Esparcia Pérez (1); Solores Sánchez Aguilera (2)
Depopulation processes are a clearly emerging issue, largely because it has been placed on the public agenda and in public policies in recent years. However, it is not a new issue, nor does it affect only rural areas, although it is in rural areas where it is most evident. It is closely related to changes in natural increase in developed countries, the increasing reduction in birth rates and the lack of “compensation” resulting from migratory flows (international and national). In the same way, demographic ageing is a recurrent theme in Europe and other developed countries, as research and reports on countries such as Japan, the United States and Australia also highlight. These countries are also increasingly talking about depopulation.
As far as rural areas are concerned, however, depopulation has to be contextualised in the framework of rural decline, the famous rural shrinking. Here, as many reports, for example from ESPON (and previously, many other studies), have rightly highlighted, rural decline goes beyond the phenomenon of depopulation. Many authors have referred to the spiral of rural decline to refer to these mechanisms. In this sense, when we talk about depopulation, we must bear in mind that we are dealing with a multidimensional phenomenon, which incorporates the demographic variable, but which also has a clear economic, social, historical-cultural, environmental, etc. nature. Depopulation also has a clear territorial nature.
This working session focuses on the phenomenon of depopulation, from this broad perspective, in the context of processes of rural shrinking. It is therefore open to analyses focusing on (but not only):
a)Demographic dynamics (trends, prospects, socio-territorial implications, ageing, demographic scenarios, etc.) and the active population (levels of training, activity, occupation, labour market and the role of women, young people and immigrants in it).
b)Legal-administrative systems (which, at different territorial scales, are linked to support for entrepreneurship and employment, the provision of public services in rural areas).
c)Support systems, with particular reference to the demand and provision of services (public, such as health or education, and private, such as commercial services) and delivery models; housing market dynamics, regulatory frameworks and policies or actions; social services and quality of life; connectivity and digital divide; etc.
d)Productive-business environments in rural areas, local productive systems, labour markets and business climate. This includes the analysis of business networks and innovation networks, leadership, the role of cooperation processes and new governance mechanisms, the social economy, skills management models, and the role of women, young people and immigrants in these productive systems, among others.
e)Civic-social and institutional environments, considering the stocks of different types of social capital in rural territories, the presence and role of innovation and civic-social and institutional leadership, and the presence of women, young people and immigrants in civic-social and institutional structures.
f)Finally, analyses that make it possible to assess and evaluate the policies that have been applied in recent years by different bodies in different sectors and spheres.
In summary, the session has a broad and multidimensional perspective, ranging from more comprehensive analyses to case studies.
Javier Esparcia Pérez (1); Solores Sánchez Aguilera (2)
(1) Instituto de Desarrollo Local / Universidad de Valencia, (2) Universitat de Barcelona
ID Abstract: