We tend to associate small town economic development with the decline of the rural United States--empty houses, shuttered shops and rusting factories. A common diagnosis of sluggish small town recovery is their lack of lifestyle amenities that attract new residents and businesses. Yet many small towns have shown progress and potential in recent years. This collection of recent articles by experts presents stories of small-town America's struggle and describes innovations and practices behind successful revivals.
The Routledge Handbook of Small Towns addresses the theoretical, methodical, and practical issues related to the development of small towns and neighbouring countryside. Small towns play a very important role in spatial structure by performing numerous significant developmental functions for rural areas. At the local scale, they act as engines for economic growth of rural regions and as a link in the system of connections between large urban centres and the countryside. The book addresses the role of small towns in the local development of regions in countries with different levels of development and economic systems, including those in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia. Chapters address the functional structure of small towns, relations between small towns and rural areas, and the challenges of spatial planning in the context of shaping the development of small towns. Students and scholars of urban planning, urban geography, rural geography, political geography, historical geography, and population geography will learn about the role of small towns in the local development of countries representing different economic systems and developmental conditions.
THE LIVING CITY "An intelligent analysis. Sensible, undoctrinaire, evengood-humored. An appealing mixture of passion and clinicaldispassion." -Washington Post Book World "The best antidote I've read to the doom-and-gloom propheciesconcerning the future of urban America." -Bill Moyers "This is fresh and fascinating material; it is essential forunderstanding not only how to avoid repeating terrible mistakes ofthe past, but also how to recover from them." -Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great AmericanCities From coast to coast across America there are countless urbansuccess stories about rejuvenated neighborhoods and resurgentbusiness districts. Roberta Brandes Gratz defines the phenomenon as"urban husbandry"-the care, management, and preservation of thebuilt environment nurtured by genuine participatory planningefforts of government, urban planners, and average citizens.
In an age where the globalization process is threatening the uniqueness and vitality of small towns, and where most urban planning discourse is directed at topics such as metropol-regions or mega-regions and world cities, the authors here emphasize the need to critically reflect on the potential of small towns. They illustrate how small towns can meet the challenge of a fast-paced, globalized world, and based on case studies, movements, programs, and strategies, present the local cultures that effectively and sustainably promote traditions and identities. Small towns often play a critical role in regional economies. When small towns focus on their specific characteristics and exploit their opportunities, they can become stable niches within regional, national, and global economies, and thus contribute significantly to shaping their future. The second edition is expanded to cover the intensive development of small towns in China and Korea. In addition, the authors examine the impact of the economic crisis on small towns and the recent development of the Slow City movement.
This book examines the impact that decentralisation reforms, initiated in the early 1990s, have had on small towns in India. It specifically focuses on small towns in Uttar Pradesh, one of the most densely populated and poorest states in India. Although considered home to one of the oldest urban civilisations, India remains one of the least urbanised regions in the world. At the same time, the country has many million-strong metropolises that are among the world’s largest megacities, as well as a multitude of small and medium-sized towns and cities. This paradoxical urbanisation, against a backdrop of reforms, has interested the scientific community to gain a more nuanced understanding of the changes and challenges involved. This book analyses an urban environment often overlooked by researchers and public authorities, namely, that of small towns. These towns are of vital importance as this is where the bulk of future urban development will take place. However, decades after implementation of the reforms, the majority of reviews and assessments have focused on large cities and so the impacts of the reform on small towns are still poorly understood. This book includes extensive primary data about political, technical and financial municipal issues in small towns of northern India and, is therefore, of interest to students, researchers and planners working on urban and regional studies in the global South.
The vastness and isolation of the American West forged a dependence on scarce natural resources especially water, forests, fish, and minerals. Today, the internet is shaping another revolution, and it promises both obstacles and opportunity. Seeking to understand the impact of a global society on western small towns, the author, director of the Western Rural Development Center at Utah State University, conducted strategic planning roundtables in thirteen states. The gatherings brought three major concer
A world more urban... The world is undergoing massive urbanization, and is projected to increase from three to over four billion city dwellers, mostly in the developing world, within 15 years. This historic shift is producing dramatic effects on human well-being and the environment. ...but less poor Unplanned shanty-towns without basic services are not an inevitable consequence of urbanization and slums are not explained by poverty alone. Urban misery also stems from misguided policies, inappropriate legal frameworks, dysfunctional markets, poor governance, and not least, lack of political will. Urbanization and economic development go hand-in-hand and the productivity of the urban economy can and should benefit everyone. Living conditions for the urban poor can be dramatically improved with proper solutions, backed by decisive, concerted action. More Urban - Less Poor brings order to the complex and important field of urban development in developing and transitional countries. Written in an accessible style, the book examines how cities grow, their economic development, urban poverty, housing and environmental problems. It also examines how to face these challenges through governance and management of urban growth, the finance and delivery of services, and finding a role for development cooperation. This is essential reading for development professionals, researchers, students and others working on any facet of urban development and management in our rapidly urbanizing world. Published with SIDA
This book investigates small town tourism development in South Africa taking into account the most common strategies: branding, promotion, festivals and theming. The contents of the book resonate with the intersection of the power elite and their impacts on small town tourism. Because the book focuses on small town geographies in South Africa, the literature on small town tourism in the country is reviewed in Chapter 2 to provide a contextual background. Each subsequent chapter begins with an overview of international literature to give the conceptual context of the case studies each chapter explores. In Chapter 3 the concept of small town tourism branding is illustrated by an exploration of the Richmond book town. In Chapter 4 the branding theme is probed further in an investigation of two winners of the Kwêla Town of the Year competition namely Fouriesburg and De Rust. Chapter 5 documents the branding of Sedgefield through its proclamation as Africa’s first Cittaslow (slow town), a process driven by the local power elite to the exclusion of town’s poor who have no understanding of the intentions of the Cittaslow movement and its potential benefits for the town. Chapter 6 is a case study of Greyton’s tourism-led rural gentrification by which a small town has transformed in three decades to become a sought after place of residence for elite inmigrants so making the town a jewel tourism destination while reinforcing racial segregation. Because festivals and events - creations of the wealthy - have made significant financial contributions to small towns, Chapter 7 considers festivals and events as strategies to market and brand small towns in a particular way. Case studies of the economic impacts of festivals on small towns are assessed and the assessment methodologies used are critiqued. Chapter 8 provides a synthesis by drawing on the thesis of the urban growth machine by power elites.
