ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a rationale for a rural agenda, examines the face of rural America and summarizes the planning issues that face rural America. It suggests specific actions that may be taken by the American Planning Association and individual planners to promote rural diversity. Rural and urban areas not only have an impact on each other, but are both adversely impacted by the ever-growing centrifugal force exerted by suburban areas. Rural communities are often hard pressed to support even the necessary infrastructure to provide minimum living standards—clean water, decent housing, adequate medical care, respectable schools. Rural areas are usually at the mercy of state and federal funding agencies for any significant improvements in local infrastructure. Economic development is a real concern in rural communities. Development districts and councils of government are types of subregional planning agencies that often include rural areas.
