ABSTRACT
This edited volume has focused on the role of services and infrastructure as part of supporting sustainable economies and resilient communities in the rural and small town resource-dependent regions of developed economies. Drawing upon ten authorship teams, the individual chapters share stories of rural and small town services and infrastructure issues, and of innovations in the provision of those services and infrastructures from four OECD states. The collection itself is divided into three parts. The first focuses upon ways in which new services and infrastructure arrangements are being shaped by changing government policy. The second focuses specifically upon examples of innovative and new service arrangements. The third is on new and/or innovative infrastructure arrangements in rural and small town areas. Together, the contributions highlight both specific and general dynamics of rural service provision. We see how the contextual specificity of certain communities and regions creates unique conditions that foster innovation. More importantly for our purposes here, and when viewed as a collective, we see common sets of challenges and potential opportunities for rural and small town places and regions if appropriate policy attention and investments are made to support new models of service and infrastructure provision.
