Connecting the Smart Village: A Switch towards Smart and Sustainable Rural-Urban Linkages in Spain

Cristina García Fernández () and Daniël Peek
Additional contact information
Cristina García Fernández: Public Economics and Political Economy, Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), 28223 Madrid, Spain
Daniël Peek: Public Economics and Political Economy, Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), 28223 Madrid, Spain

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: This research focuses on the dimensions of the Smart Village concept to understand to what extent smart development in the countryside could contribute to reducing disparities between rural and urban realities. Population imbalances and intensifying climate impacts are prime challenges for rural areas, which also need to counter diminishing infrastructure and the lack of digital competencies to enhance their attractiveness. Cities, in turn, face their own set of challenges, such as contamination, natural resources exploitation, and high population densities. Local governments have been embracing the Smart City approach to accomplish sustainable development, which might also benefit the revitalization of rural areas if conducted through a tailored regional approach. Enhanced connectivity between rural and urban realities through smartness is, therefore, becoming an important element for the shaping of adaptive, energy-efficient, and resilient communities.

Keywords: smart villages; smart cities; rural depopulation; adaptation to climate change; digital transformation; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/4/822/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/4/822/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:822-:d:1115629

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().