The Concept of Accesibility and Its Impact on Rural Communities

Accessibility is a concept that has come of age, especially in rural communities (Farrington and Farrington, 2005); accessibility can be defined as the ease at which people can reach desire activity sites such as those offering employment, shopping, medical care or recreation (Hanson, 2009).One may be effectively inaccessible because of one’s inadequate skills, social talents, income or moreover, from there being physically or spatially separated from the thing of desire (Moseley, 1979, pp56). These social, economic, technological and physical dimensions of accessibility are concerned in rural communities, where isolation is common. In opposition, their urban counterparts don’t see these dimensions of accessibility as great constraints, where many opportunities tend to be located close to one’s home or workplace. They tend to have a relatively high level of accessibility with lower needs of mobility.

Mobility is largely linked to the concept of accessibility and is defined as people’s ability to move (Moseley, 1979, pp57) therefore increasing ones accessibility you can increase ones mobility and vice versa. However, accessibility alone incorporates improving opportunities, such as healthcare and employment, allowing for a better quality of life, since travel is rarely an end in itself (Moseley, 1979).

The rural community faces challenges of mobility deprivation through isolation and economic constraints. This mobility deprivation results from low accessibility of private and public transport, and has resulted in a lack of employment, health and service opportunities. These challenges are faced regularly by rural communities today. Accessibility is unequivocally not just about mobility or transport but also other means such as...

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...er dimension to accessibility as ‘traditional’ families, where the family farm is continued to be common, reflect stereotypical gender roles, leaving women at home with little accessibility to services or employment opportunities, which can cap a family’s household income. The lack of technological infrastructure in rural communities poses challenges of accessibility to employment and social opportunities.

Overall, accessibility deficiency in rural areas extends to the limited availability of employment and the absence of facilities, technology infrastructure and transport services which lead to social isolation and exclusion. These posed economic, social, technological and ‘traditional’ challenges of accessibility highlight why accessibility is an important concept in rural communities today and why it should be implemented as a governmental policy of importance.