The Differentiated CountrysideIn the wake of BSE, the threat to ban fox hunting and Foot and Mouth disease, the English countryside appears to be in turmoil. Long-standing uses of rural space are in crisis and, unsurprisingly, political processes in rural areas are marked by conflicts between groups, such as farmers, environmentalists, developers and local residents. Using an innovative theoretical approach based on 'networks of conventions', this book investigates the 'regionalisation' of the English countryside through a series of case-studies. These studies are based on a set of 'ideal types': 'the preserved' countryside, where environmental pressures are strongly expressed; the 'contested' countryside, where development processes are shaped by disputes between agrarian and environmental interests; and the 'paternalistic' countryside, where large landowners continue to oversee patterns of land development. It looks in detail at landowners, residents, politicians, planners, farmers, and environmentalists and shows how these groups compete. The Differentiated Countryside argues that the countryside is increasingly governed by regional policies. It becomes hard to discern a single English countryside; we see the emergence of multiple countrysides, places where diverse modes of identity are expressed and differing forms of development take place. Such diversity, it is argued, now lies at the heart of rural England. |
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The Differentiated Countryside Philip Lowe,Terry Marsden and,Jonathan Murdoch,Neil Ward Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
actors aesthetic agricultural policy approach argued associated Aylesbury Vale Buckinghamshire cent Chapter concerns contested countryside conventions councillors counterurbanisation Countryside Agency County Council CPRE demand DETR developmental Devon differentiated countryside differing district diversity dominant economic and social economic development economic networks emergence employment ensure environmental networks farmers farming forms framework green belt groups growth hectares housing ibid in-migration increasingly industrial institutions interaction interests labour landowners localistic MAFF Marsden middle-class modernisation Murdoch Neil Ward North East Northumberland Northumberland National Park notably organisation particular patterns planners planning policy political networks population post-war preservationism preservationist preservationist networks preserved countryside productivism productivist protection RDAs reflexive regional contexts Regional Planning Guidance regionalisation residents role rural areas rural communities rural development rural economy rural environment rural locations rural policy rural space sector SERPLAN significant social formations South East spatial sustainable towns traditional rural trends urban–rural shift villages