Rural-Urban Partnerships
An Integrated Approach to Economic Development
Urban and rural areas enjoy different and often complementary assets, and better integration between them is important for socio-economic performance. This report provides a framework to understand the changing relationships between urban and rural areas. It is focused on one approach that can enhance and better manage rural-urban relationships – the use of rural-urban partnerships. Specifically, it documents the characteristics of these partnerships and the factors that can hinder as well as enable rural-urban co-operation. Different governance approaches to manage rural-urban relationships are identified and discussed. Finally, recommendations are provided to help national, regional and local policy makers to build effective and sustainable rural-urban partnerships for better economic development.
Purposes and outcomes of rural-urban partnerships
This chapter analyses rural-urban partnership in terms of its different purposes and outcomes, on the basis of the observations from 11 case studies. First, the purposes of rural-urban partnerships are examined and discussed with respect to the type of partners, the scope of co-operation and the type of territory under consideration. Second, the chapter provides a rationale for rural-urban partnership, highlighting its potential benefits and risks.