ABSTRACT
This chapter’s concern is with the city-region as a concept and the rural as ‘hinterland’. Regional development frameworks adopt a relational perspective on rural–urban places and this chapter seeks to unpack the changing nature of those relationships, showing how, despite the endurance of food security concerns, the broader focus of rural economies has shifted away from agricultural production. Small towns play an increasingly important role in regional development as anchor points and development hubs. The chapter explores the broadening regional development focus in five contexts – France, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia and ‘Arctic Europe’, the latter being represented by Finland, Norway and Sweden.
