Natural amenities and rural development in new urban-rural spaces

Diverse scholars recognize that urban and rural areas have becomes increasingly blurred in function and form. Amenity-rich areas have experienced high levels of population and employment growth in North America. At the same time, rural populations have had to adjust to economic restructuring by trying to capture benefits from amenity-led development and/or commuting to urban areas for employment. We use the concept of urban-rural space to review dynamic processes that are altering rural areas, integrating them with larger urban places, and creating both challenges and opportunities for rural areas that were formerly dependent on agriculture, mining, and other forms of primary activities. To examine trends in urban-rural places, we present the case of southeast Ohio, an area of the Appalachian foothills undergoing increasing urban influence from the growing state capital, Columbus. The dynamics of this area yield insights that may be informative to policy making in other rural areas undergoing similar transitions in the modern economy.