Transcript OECD

Assessing and governing
Rural-urban interactions
web page: www.oecd.org/regional/rurban
Joaquim Oliveira Martins
Regional Development Policy Division
GOV OECD
Metz, 16 November 2012
Outline
1. Urban-rural interactions and externalities:
theory and evidence
2. Beyond urban and rural divide: an integrated
approach
3. Towards functional regions: concept and
identification
4. Governing rural-urban interactions: a more
complex picture
1- Urban-rural interactions and externalities
• Traditional approaches focus on urban-rural divide
There are still differences in socio-economic conditions and performances
between urban and rural areas
35
Average GDP per inhabitant in OECD TL3 regions, by type of region
 GDP per capita is much
25
30
higher in urban areas
than in rural and
intermediate areas.
20
On average, no
convergence in terms of
GDP per capita
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Time
Urban regions
Intermediate
Rural
1 - Urban-rural interactions and externalities
• However, opportunities for growth are observed in any type of region
-.2
0
.2
.4
.6
.8
In terms of GDP growth, rural regions show the highest variability
Urban
Intermediate
Rural
U.S., Canada, Chile, Mexico, Israel and Island are excluded from the analysis for reasons of data
availability
1 - Urban-rural interactions and externalities
• However, opportunities for growth are observed in any type of region
In terms of population growth rural regions show the highest variability
Population growth rates (2000-2009) in OECD TL3 regions, by typology
.4
.6
 the variability of growth rates
is much higher in rural areas
than for the other types of
region
-.4
-.2
0
.2
 part of this variability can be
explained by looking at the role
of the relationships with Urban
or Intermediate regions (urbanrural linkages)
Urban
Intermediate
Rural
U.S., Canada, Chile, Mexico, Israel and Island are excluded from the analysis for reasons of data
availability
1 - Urban-rural interactions and externalities
Strong spatial externalities between urban and rural regions are observed
 population rural regions grow more, ceteris
paribus, the more connected they are (the
smaller the distance) to the closest urban or
intermediate region
 there positive growth spillovers from urban to
rural regions in terms of population. These
effects are decreasing with distance
In addition
 urban areas benefit from rural areas in terms
of provision of landscape, recreation, open
space, natural resources, etc.
 there can be pressures in the use of land from
urban to rural areas (e.g. issue of urban sprawl)
The existence of these externalities makes worth shifting the
attention from the administrative to the functional
organization of the territory (functional regions)
2 – Beyond urban rural divide
Deep territorial transformations in the last decades
Larger distances
daily travelled by
individuals
Economic
development /
structural changes
Improved ICT and
transport
Mass diffusion of
cars
Increased
urbanization
New patterns
of territorial
organization
Increased integration
of places before more
independent
New concept of
cities and rural
areas
Larger
functional
regions
2 – Beyond urban rural divide
 The traditional concepts of cities and rural areas,
based on administrative boundaries, are not
anymore coherent with the actual economic and
social organization of the territory
 From a socio-economic point of view, territory is
organized in functional regions
2 – What is a functional region?
Functional regions
geographical spaces where the bulk of local
economic processes takes place.
They are increasingly different from
administrative region
How it can be identified?
Commuting (labour market)
Services
Partnerships
Transport networks
Supply chains
Administrative region (higher level)
Etc.
Administrative region (smaller level)
Functional region
2 – Functional vs. administrative regions
A functional approach makes it possible to highlight two main discrepancies
between the administrative structure and the actual organization of the territory
1) Core cities (cities de facto) vs.
administrative cities
Rennes, France
2) Functional regions (e.g.
metropolitan areas) vs.
administrative regions
OECD functional metro
region
TL3 administrative region
3 – First step: identification of functional urban regions
Under the guidance of the OECD Working Party on Territorial
Indicators, and carried out jointly with the EC and Eurostat
1. OECD has identified functional urban areas beyond city
boundaries, as integrated labour market areas (using
population density and travel-to- work flows).
2. 1 175 functional urban areas have been identified across 29
OECD countries
3. It allows comparisons among the different forms that
urbanisation takes
Website: www.oecd.org/gov/regional/measuringurban
4 – Functional regions and rural-urban
interactions: a more complex picture
Urban, peri-urban and rural areas are integrated through a broad set of linkages
 Different functions may be associated with different boundaries
High complexity of
Urban-rural
relationships
High variability of
spatial boundaries
4 –Governing rural-urban interactions
 Functional regions based on labour market interactions are able to catch
many types of rural-urban interactions, especially for metropolitan areas
 The Rurban project aims at going beyond a statistical definition of
functional regions and at understanding the higher complexity of rural-urban
interactions and their governance.
 For this reason 12 case-study regions are providing evidence on how and at
what territorial level different functions are governed.
 The role and the structure of partnerships to govern rural-urban
interactions are being assessed
4 – Governing rural-urban interactions: preliminary
findings from case studies
The case of Rennes: different geographies for different functions (1/2)
(metropolitan region)
4 – Governing rural-urban interactions: preliminary
findings from case studies
The case of Rennes: different geographies for different functions (2/2)
Rennes Métropole (main rurban
partnership)
Planning activity at the level of
the Pays de Rennes
Different access to public
services (e.g. public hospitals)
 there are different regions for different
functions
 high discrepancy among administrative
regions and functional territories
4 – Governing rural-urban interactions: preliminary
findings from case studies
The case of Forlì-Cesena: different geographies for different functions (1/2)
Network of medium-sized cities
Prov. of
Ravenna
Prov. of ForliCesena
Prov. of Rimini
4 – Governing rural-urban interactions: preliminary
findings from case studies
The case of Forlì-Cesena: different geographies for different functions (1/2)
Network of medium-sized cities
Chosen rurban partnership (e.g. agroindustry)
Labour market areas (LLSs)
Tourism and water: the area of
Romagna (territorial identity – soft factor)
Forli
Cesena
 different regions for different functions
 labour market areas are not large enough to catch all the territory
involved in the rurban partnership
 soft factors such as a strong territorial identity (e.g. ‘Romagna”)
plays a role for the identification some of the partnerships (tourism,
water, etc.)
Governing rural-urban relationships: preliminary findings from case studies
 Strong Leadership: leadership plays an important role in bringing Urban and Rural
Municipalities together (e.g. Germany, Italy)
 Strong partnership buy in: partnership working is viewed as the optimum way to do
business (e.g. Italy, Germany, US)
 Strong territorial identity: The existence of a territorial identity helps to foster
partnerships (e.g. Italy, Germany)
 No single model of collaborations and partnerships: complex landscape of Rurban
partnerships in some cases result in high transaction costs and partnerships, sometimes
engaging large number of players (e.g. Italy)
 Shared regional responsibility: Rural- Urban collaborations leads to improved
ownership of the region: the responsibility (e.g. Germany)
Power sharing inner structure: one-voice one vote approach to power sharing in a
Rurban partnership is one way to ensure that the partnership functions (e.g. Germany,
Australia)
What we learnt and further steps ahead
 Territorial relationships between urban and rural areas are very complex and their
governance require an approach on functional regions
 The statistical identification of functional regions through the OECD method is a
relevant step ahead to provide a geographical representation of territorial relationships
and a guide to more integrated policies for urban and rural areas
 However, labour market flows alone cannot always catch the whole spectrum of
urban-rural relationships, especially in non-metropolitan regions, where labour flows are
less intense and representative of actual territorial relationships
 A high flexibility should be accepted for both identification and governance of urbanrural interactions
 After drawing functional boundaries, it is not easy to organize institutions. There are
different models of governance across OECD regions (formal, informal, conflictual,
cooperative, etc.). These models are analysed through a set of 12 case-studies
Thank you!