Rural and Regional Geography
Summary
Rural and regional geography examines the spatial organisation, social dynamics and economic processes that shape human settlement beyond urban cores. At its core lies the study of demographic change—from in-migration and counter-urbanisation to intra-rural mobility—and the resulting implications for land-use transformation, infrastructure provision and community resilience. Researchers assess how agricultural landscapes, regional specialisations and environmental systems interact with policy frameworks, technological innovation and global market forces. Emerging concerns include the spatial differentiation of service delivery, the evolving roles of digital connectivity and remote working, and the governance of multifunctional rural regions. This field bridges physical and human geography to inform sustainable development, highlighting the need for integrated approaches to regional planning, economic diversification and social inclusion. By exploring case studies across diverse global contexts, rural and regional geography delivers insights into food security, demographic equity and landscape stewardship, while advancing practical applications in infrastructure investment, community revitalisation and environmental risk management.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent studies have applied behavioural and environmental frameworks to understand settlement choices among rural in-migrants, revealing that the quality of public services and ecological amenities exerts a major influence on intentions to settle permanently, with variations by gender and education level. Other work employing mobile phone data in the wake of societal disruption has uncovered how socioeconomic status modulated both routine mobility and longer-term relocations, with less affluent regions exhibiting larger increases in daily movements and higher-income groups driving most permanent moves. These findings underscore the importance of targeted infrastructure investment and differentiated support measures to foster inclusive and resilient rural communities.
Rural and Regional Geography publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in rural and regional geography across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Counter-urbanisation: Movement of people from densely populated urban centres to less populated rural or peripheral areas.
Lateral rural migration: Relocation between two rural areas without a preceding urban residence, highlighting the complexity of intra-rural flows.
In-migration: Arrival of new residents into a defined region, contributing to demographic change and local growth.
Social media mobility data: Aggregated location records derived from users’ interactions on social platforms, utilised to infer real-time population movement patterns.
References
- Counterurbanisation in post-covid-19 times. Signifier of resurgent interest in rural space across the global North?. Journal of Rural Studies (2024).
- Identifying counter-urbanisation using Facebook's user count data. Habitat International (2024).
- The social stratification of internal migration and daily mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Reports (2024).
- Contemporary and ‘Messy’ Rural In‐migration Processes: Comparing Counterurban and Lateral Rural Migration. Population Space and Place (2015).
- Hesitant or determined? The influence of social and environmental factors on settlement decision-making of rural in-migrants: evidence from Dali, China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2024).
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