Urban And Rural Areas Are Interdependent

Patterns of interdependence seem to be emerging between urban and rural areas where rural dwellers have strategies for overcoming differences. The links they have with urban areas provide them with good standards of living. Some of the key findings of a report in Regional Trends 43 include that unemployment rates are usually lower in rural areas, earnings are higher, a higher proportion have Internet access with 51% in rural areas using banking sites compared with 44% from urban areas and rural households spend more money than urban households.

Other findings are that there are fewer young adults in rural areas but more in their 40s with young children. There is a higher proportion of higher managerial/professional occupations in rural areas and higher proportions with degrees. People in rural areas tend to live longer - on average 2.1 years for males and 1.4 for females. House prices are less affordable for local workers in rural areas than in urban areas.

The industry mix is not so different generally. Agriculture, forestry and fishing account for 15% of all rural businesses and retail a much higher proprtion of urban businesses. Farming accounts for only a small part of the 560,000 business units in rural England. Home working and self-employment in rural areas are far higher than the national average.

Rural England is also divided into 'two countrysides': a large group of well-off, better connected areas; and, a much smaller group of less well-off, sparsely populated, remote areas. Rural, 'less sparse' areas have high levels of household income, all 'sparse' areas have incomes below average, with lower levels of people with degree or equivalent qualifications. 'Less sparse' areas are found mainly around large urban areas and the urban fringe of villages that almost merge into each other and small market towns.