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Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 August 2022) | Viewed by 13209

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Angel Paniagua Mazorra

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Guest Editor

Spanish Council for Scientific Research, CSIC, 28007 Madrid, Spain
Interests: rural geography; Smart Villages; rural development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The geographical debate on the processes of transformation of rural areas has considerable continuity and permanently generates new research issues in the global North and in the global South. This debate maintains large processes or axes of transformation that have multiple spatial disparities.

The geographical debate is multidimensional and supports various perspectives:

1. Sociocultural, which relates to the dynamics of change in communities, the emergency processes of new social groups, the renewed role of women or the new geographical identities of the countryside or rurality;

2. The new environmental perspective encompasses from the great geographical debates associated with political ecology in the global South, the unequal integration of agri-environmental policies or the environmental redefinition of rural areas by Western populations;

3. From the perspective of political geography, rural areas now have a renewed symbolic value in national identity and politics, which is expressed in the changing position of the rural core and peripherical areas.

This Special Issue supports quality research from a mainly geographical perspective that integrates multiple dimensions into a regional or local area or, on the other hand, also encourages research associated with one of the three dimensions: sociocultural, environmental or political.

Dr. Angel Paniagua Mazorra
Guest Editor

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Keywords

sustainability
rural geography
geographical dimensions of rural change
theory and applied research

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 153 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas—Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions

by Angel Paniagua

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2517; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032517 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 818

Abstract

The geographical debate on the processes of transformation of rural areas has considerable continuity and permanently generates new research questions in the global North and in the global South [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 2074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Initial Qualitative Exploration of Economic, Cultural, and Language Changes in Telok Melano, Sarawak, Malaysia

by Chong Shin, Dilah Tuah and Yusriadi Yusriadi

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2655; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052655 - 24 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3171

Abstract

This research focuses on the present economic, cultural, and linguistic issues of Telok Melano, a hamlet in Sarawak that was formerly isolated from nearby communities. Telok Melano is changing dramatically as a result of the Pan Borneo Highway construction and the nature of cultural obsolescence in modern society. This qualitative study has been conducted through face-to-face structured and semi-structured interviews, as well as participant observation. This study found that the highway construction benefits the villagers. An economic overturn has begun among them, and basic infrastructure has also been greatly enhanced as a result of the project’s spin-off. Are these changes beneficial to their cultural practices? Ethnographic techniques are delivering a number of interesting results. For instance, the changes have solidified the local Malays’ religious beliefs. Although the locals have abandoned many traditional practices in order to comply with Islamic beliefs, they have preserved certain traditional etiquette. In terms of language, a generational gap emerged between three linguistic varieties spoken in this area. Their dominant mother tongue, the Kuching Malay dialect, is becoming more commonly spoken, particularly with outsiders. This study successfully presents the picture of economic and social changes in Telok Melano following the development of this new road system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions)

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16 pages, 2265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Integrated Analysis of GWR Models and Spatial Econometric Global Models to Decompose the Driving Forces of the Township Consumption Development in Gansu, China

by Qianqian Zhao, Qiao Fan and Pengfei Zhou

Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010281 - 28 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2309

Abstract

The investigation of township consumption patterns has become highly significant in order to emphasize the importance of township consumption patterns in economic development and policy formulation. To attain township consumption development in underdeveloped areas is a significant way to meet the general criterion of “rich life” under China’s Rural Revitalization strategy. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the driving forces that contribute to the development of township consumption in underdeveloped areas such as Gansu Province, China, and then scientifically design and implement a strategy for township consumption development in Gansu, all of which are related to the broader interests of rural revitalization. The study used 1233 township data of Gansu Province, China. The study integrated geographically weighted regression (GWR) and a spatial econometric global (SEG) model for data analysis and interpretation. The integration of these two models can comprehensively capture both spatial heterogeneity and spatial independence concurrently. First, we conducted integrated analyses of GWR and SEG models using consistent settings of spatial weight matrix elements, with GWR focusing on spatial heterogeneity and SEG models on spatial spillover. Second, the permanent resident population, the number of financial institution outlets, the types of townships, and the characteristics of townships had a substantial significant effect on the development of township consumption in Gansu, China. In addition, the ratio of residents with access to basic medical insurance was found to be negatively significant. The revitalization strategy for township consumption in Gansu Province, China should prioritize increasing the permanent resident population of townships, accelerating the development of township urbanization, accelerating the construction of township consumption infrastructures, and strengthening financial support from township financial institutions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions)

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22 pages, 2804 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Local Integration as a Durable Solution? Negotiating Socioeconomic Spaces between Refugees and Host Communities in Rural Northern Uganda

by Sarah Khasalamwa-Mwandha

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10831; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910831 - 29 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3214

Abstract

With a growing number of displaced people, there is a need for robust approaches to coping with displacement. Uganda has a progressive refugee policy that promotes freedom of movement and the socioeconomic rights of the refugees. Specifically, refugees are often allocated land to settle and cultivate rural settlements, and the integrated social service provision facilitates interaction with host communities. However, there remain challenges in creating sustainable livelihoods for refugees in rural settlements. There exist significant tensions over shared resources such as land, water, woodlots, and grazing areas. Based on a survey of 416 households and key informant interviews with South Sudanese refugees in selected settlements in the Adjumani district, the paper highlights refugees’ access to social and economic spaces as critical pathways to sustainable livelihoods and integration. Uganda’s progressive policy expands the opportunity space; however, refugees still encounter significant barriers in accessing the socioeconomic spaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions)

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16 pages, 859 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Key Paths, Orientations and Limits

by Angel Paniagua

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2059; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042059 - 14 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2525

Abstract

Rural differentiation processes have formed the backbone of rural studies. Owing to the strength of rural–urban and local–global relationships, the theoretical approaches to rural restructuring in the Anglo-Saxon world and new rurality in Latin America only have a limited capacity to explain contemporary global phenomena of rural spaces. Due to this, transverse theoretical and methodological approaches have emerged to explain social, environmental and spatial (rural) processes. Here, a new approach is proposed called the individual–global field, based on the individual–global binary category to substitute the traditional relevance of the locality–community–globality association This new approach tries to reinvigorate rural geography in a more flexible way, based on minor theory, to adapt to all the phenomena that can occur globally. In any case, various spatial planes are proposed, dominated by specific socioeconomic processes on which the rural individual would move. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Geographical Changes in Rural Areas: Social, Environmental and Cultural Dimensions)

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