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Mobility Demands and Participation in Remote Rural Areas
Author(s) -
Osti Giorgio
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9523.2010.00517.x
Subject(s) - typology , geography , rural area , geographic mobility , population , economic geography , rural population , regional science , economic growth , sociology , political science , demography , economics , archaeology , law
Although some rural areas of Italy are close to the country's most developed regions, in recent decades they have entered demographic decline: today, these areas are characterised by very high percentages of old people and very small numbers of family members. In some mountain villages the relational web is so weak as to represent a severe form of exclusion. Increasing virtual and physical mobility is seen as an answer to depopulation and marginality. The article seeks to verify the plausibility of the idea that mobility organisation can improve the traditional policies of territorial development by placing more emphasis on the involvement of the local population in transport services. To this end, it constructs a typology of rural areas on the basis of Kaufmann's categories of connectivity and reversibility. These ideal types are then used to analyse the trends and chances of mobility in remote Italian rural areas.