Intelligent Rural Areas—Novel Solutions for Sustainability and Livability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 27784
Special Issue Editors
Interests: comparative urban and regional development; shrinking cities; regional policies; border studies; green infrastructure; structural change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: digital transformation in spatial planning; digital tools; GIS; hybrid (digital-analogue) design methods; spatial planning für climate adaptation & mitigation; urban & rural transformation
Interests: housing; urban sociology; ageing, migration and integration; social structures; urban-rural divide; digitalization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In ongoing debates regarding the future development of rural areas, the discourse is often problematized—and almost stigmatized—as rural areas are often challenged by their location at the periphery, an aging and out-migrating population, and the absence of political power.
At the same time, rural areas are spaces where sustainability can be highlighted in terms of social capital, and where environmental aspects could offer an important catalyst for change. In the context of lower pressure on land and population and plentiful space, they offer multiple opportunities for new uses of this space. This might include new places to experiment with innovative environmental options, such as low-energy projects; new management processes in infrastructure, such as flood prevention; autonomous driving; or new solutions for artificial intelligence in sustaining an aging population.
Can rural areas, in a setting of restricted financial resources, be considered as opportunities of various forms? Are rural areas new spaces for intelligent solutions, creativity, and sustainability and what form could they take?
This Special Issue will focus on how the future of rural areas depends on the way in which local and regional actors are able to embrace new opportunities with a focus on sustainability. We address a wide range of approaches for exploring and addressing these questions, including case studies all over the world encompassing both quantitative and qualitative empirical research as well as original theoretical contributions.
Prof. Dr. Karina Pallagst
Prof. Dr. Martin Berchtold
Prof. Dr. Annette Spellerberg
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- rural areas
- planning policies
- infrastructure and mobility
- aging smart
- sustainable rural development
- comparative rural development
- peripheral areas
- digital transformation
- artificial intelligence in spatial solutions
- demographic change
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