Regionalized Rural Economy

The declining pattern of agricultural sector in countryside has brought rural economy on the forefront of change. With the growing concern on environment, the rise of knowledge-based economy, the institutional decentralization and the widening varieties of interests and demands, new economic opportunities and threats are opened up towards rural development. Rural areas in England witness a transition towards regionalization. Policies move into the direction where multifunctional character of farming is embraced and agricultural support is undermined. (OECD, 2009) With the government’s commitment to Localism agenda, there is a shift from a “national, sectoral and individualized notion of agriculture to a regional, territorial and collective notion” (Ward et al., 2003:21 cited in Marsden and Sonnino 2008). Uses of rural lands are evolving into a regional context under the changing nature of economic structure, planning, social change and replacing the agricultural productivism approach, which a ‘national’ demand for food production determined rural land (Lowe et al., 1993). The trend of regionalized economy, however, raises pressure on planning to cope with a new and more complex form of rural development. This essay, by reviewing different critique, explores the characteristics and drivers of a regionalized rural economy in England and gives some thoughts to the role of planning in its impact to future development.

Economic Diversification
The idea of “economic diversification” or “multifunctional agriculture” as part of sustainable development emerges signifying a move away from the traditional view of seeing agro-industry as a separate and unique economic sector, setting apart from local and regional economy (Marsden and Sonni...

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