What are the different issues that rural areas in MEDCs and LEDCs will face in the future?

Counter-urbanisation is the movement of people away from cities to villages in the countryside. It will cause many future problems for rural areas in MEDCs, such as south Shropshire, as richer people move out of the cities into areas that are seen as nicer environments to live in, where they can afford to live and commute.

One of the problems is the development of dormitory settlements for commuters to live in. Housing estates on nucleated rural settlements can take away the character of these village environments. To the east of south Shropshire, there are many villages housing commuters, such as that of Bishop’s castle with a population of only 1600, however these commuter populations may grow.

These changes in the structure of the populations has meant that there will been a change in service needs, and many rural areas, such as south Shropshire will suffer from a lack of services which are taken for granted in the cities, such as a hospital or library. The increase in demand for houses in these rural environments has meant that property prices have increased dramatically. Last year, 2002, property prices in rural areas were estimated to have increased by £72 per day according to the financial times, and are predicted to rise further this year.

The conflicting interests of newcomers and traditional locals have caused and will continue to cause many problems in south Shropshire. The newcomers have brought with them increased traffic congestion and noise and have driven up local house prices and living costs, all of which are set to rise. However, due to the influx of richer residents to the east of south Shropshire, the provision of services, such as a library bus has increased.

South Shropshire to the west of the A49, however, has suffered from the affects of re-urbanisation, with the majority of 18 to 15 year olds moving ...

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South Shropshire to the west of the A49, however, has suffered from the affects of re-urbanisation, with the majority of 18 to 15 year olds moving out and into the cities of the West Midlands in the search of jobs, services and education. This has led to a decline in services, such as public transport which is an important amenity, as 15% of the people living in the west of south Shropshire do not own a car.

Economic decline and its attempted reversal
Farming on the urban fringe – sell or farm?
Tourism issues in south Shropshire
Environmental problems generated by agricultural land use

Rural areas in LEDCs will also face many issues in the future. Rural to urban migration has caused many environmental consequences. It is the migration of people from rural areas with a high amount of population pressure to urban areas where the young and skilled can find jobs. This process will have a slight positive affect upon rural areas, as the population pressure will be reduced. However, as it is the young and skilled part of the population who migrate to urban areas, the rural areas potentially lose part of their population that could otherwise help to solve problems affecting these rural areas in the future. If the process of circular migration is occurring however, such as in Sahel in Africa, the workers who left can bring back money and more skills to the rural area.

There are many more consequences of this rural to urban migration however. Small-scale farmers are put under a lot of pressure to increase production of cereals and this leads to over-cultivation, overgrazing and over-abstraction of water for irrigation. This will eventually lead to desertification in the future. Woodfuel is used in both rural and urban areas. High demand for woodfuel by cities, such as Nairobi in Kenya has driven up prices and the buying of woodfuel accounts for 30% of the locals’ income.

Many cities rely on rural production of charcoal, which continues to deplete rural forests. This will in turn limit the amount of woodfuel available for people living in these rural areas. Urban expansion has continued to consume farmland, such as in Egypt where up to 12% of its farmland has been consumed by urban sprawl. This will put further pressure on rural farmers in the future, due to this loss of land. Urban waste, which is increasing in volume due to increasing urbanisation, is tipped in rural landfill sites. Particles from the tips can contaminate the air and rubbish dumped in Senegal has contaminated the groundwater. This will have a major affect upon the health of people living in the rural environment with already poor healthcare and is expected to get worse.