URBAN RURAL CONTINUUM_ the merging of town and country

8TH AUGUST 2016 TOWN PLANNING

ARCHANA MURALIDHARAN
ASWATHY.A
INTRODUCTION

RURAL-URBAN CONTINUUM proposes a linear depiction of the contrasting natures of social relationships characteristic of
rural and urban settlements.

This was a popular conceptual tool to classify different types of community and the transition between

Continuum means continuity.

By rural-urban continuum is meant “continuity from the village to the city.

One end of this continuous scale is the village: the other is the city.

Both these social formations are in ceaseless interaction.

That is the reason why villagers show the profound impact of city life on them and certain cultural traits from villages are
developed in cities. The continuum also shows that the development is from the village to the city. Over time, villages are
transformed into towns and cities.
 It arose from early 20th century sociology attempting to understand the social changes consequent upon rapid urbanization.
Life in the countryside occurred in small, geographically isolated settlements which were socially homogeneous, with high
levels of mutual communication and social solidarity, and which changed very slowly ,Urban communities were attributed the
opposite characteristics

Rural and urban areas have changed due to 4 main processes :

1. Counter Urbanisation : the movement of people and businesses away
from towns and cities to rural areas

2. Suburbanisation : the movement of people from the inner city areas to

the suburbs of towns and cities leading to the growth of the suburbs and
the extension of the urban area

3. Re-Urbanisation : the movement of people and businesses back to the

CBD and Inner City due to redevelopment and regeneration

4. Intra-urban migration : Any population movements made within urban

areas e.g. as families develop and their housing needs change this is
reflected in their intra-urban migration
Though their functioning is relatively inter-dependent
and inter-functional, they are at large treated as
separate entities and their planning is also generally
done in isolation.

The increasing population has to get accommodated in

the urban areas, especially in the developing world to
increase the level of education, awareness in order to
make advancements at par with the developed world
in the future times, but the usefulness of the both of
them can’t be over-rated in any sense.

The urbanites has to be circulated by a large amount of

agricultural and rural products, without which their
survival will become the question of their existence and
rural population needs the market where there products
can be sold out as it’s the major part of their earning.
Robert Redfield (1930) has made an important contribution to develop
the concept of folk, rural and urban continuum.

He has constructed a continuum from small rural villages to large cities.

More urban means that population is more secular, more individualistic
and with a greater division of labour.

The rapid process of urbanization, establishment of new

technologically developed industries in rural areas (near to the urban
centres) have exercised a great impact on rural life.

The spread of modem industrial traits has decreased considerably the

differences between the two is not visible. Thus, invisible rural and urban
cultural boundaries have made It difficult to draw a line of distinction.

Hence, the marginal areas show amalgamation and continuation of

cultural traits of both the societies.
The concept of rural-urban continuum to stress the idea that there are no sharp
breaking points to be found in the degree or quantity of rural-urban differences.

Robert Redfield has given the concept of rural -urban continuum on the basis of his
study of Mexican peasants of Tepoztlain. The rapid process of urbanization through
the establishment of industries, urban traits and facilities has decreased the
differences between villages and cities.
DEFINING RURAL AND URBAN AREAS

L. Louis Wirth of the Chicago School, in his highly influential essay ‘Urbanism as a Way of Life’ (American Journal of Sociology,
1938), thought cities distinctive because they were large, dense and heterogeneous and that this produced the transient,
disorderly, anonymous and formal associational relationships of urban living.

Rural population size differs between countries - UK : 10,000; France :

2000; Ireland :200
Functions in rural areas thought to be :
-Land use dominated by agriculture, forestry and open spaces
-Contains smaller settlements
-Based on a way of life characterised by close knit communities

The concept of rural-urban continuum is based on the assumption of rural-urban differences.

According to G. V. Fuguitt, ‘If rural-urban sociology is to continue a specialized sub-field and has a
meaningful conceptual basis, the need for a new orientation is evident.’

Professor Bertrand made the following observation: ‘Proponents of the continuum theory feel that
rural-urban differences occur in a relative degree in a range extending between two polar extremes
of rural and urban.
Cloke's 1979 model of urban-rural continuum structure shows how land-use might change with distance from the city. In this
model, there is no single typical rural settlement, but rather a spectrum between declining villages in the deep countryside to
suburbanised villages and overspill towns in the urban fringe (see diagram below, after Cloke, 1970).

CLOKE’S INDEX OF RURALITY

Cloke’s index categorises all areas of England and Wales into four
criteria:
extreme rural,
intermediate rural,
intermediate non-rural and
extreme non-rural; as well as urban areas.

Cloke used 16 different ways of drawing the conclusions, all of which

lead to the measure of an area’s rurality.

CLOKE’S INDEX OF RURALITY

Occupancy rates
Commuting
Female population (15-44)
Amenities
Population density
Agricultural employment
Elderly population
Remoteness (distance to 50,000)
Continuum Debate:

1. Both the concepts rural and urban are not adequately defined. There is lack of universal definition
of village or town.

-If people still have on the traditional distinction between rural and urban society then there Is either a
western bias or the superimposition of the western theory on the Indian society

2. Rate of urbanisation may be very slow.

3. Both rural community and urban community have been subjected to change for which strict
distinction between village community and urban community is steadily diminishing.

4. .Urban fringe is a place which brings greater linkage between the rural and urban community. In
due course, urban fringe gets developed into a town.
THANK YOU