Beyond the Rural-Urban Dichotomy: Essay in Honor of Professor A.M. Isserman

Peter Schaeffer, Mulugeta Kahsai and Randall Jackson ()
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Mulugeta Kahsai: Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University

Working Papers from Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University

Abstract: Rural and urban regions are interconnected and form one system. Changes in one region therefore also affect others. This is particularly true for a force as large and pervasive as urbanization which resulted in massive rural and urban economic restructuring and geographic realignment of rural–urban boundaries. Until the mid-twentieth century, rural could be considered the opposite of urban, but in the process of urbanization, economic and social structures of rural and urban regions became more similar. However, perceptions and attitudes often survive long after conditions that shaped them have changed. In this article, the authors explain why attention to proper definitions of rural and urban is important to policymaking and analysis. The authors use ideas, definitions, and empirical results based in large part on A. M. Isserman’s research to highlight the importance of his rural research and to honor his memory.

Keywords: rural-urban; metro-nonmetro; classification systems; urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2012-08-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rri:wpaper:2012rp06

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