Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

What do we need to change?
The spatial response
Market towns and the economy
of rural areas
Rural Norfolk
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Market towns and the economy of rural areas
Contributing to the prosperity of regional centres
The future of the economy in rural areas is dependent on many of the
same factors that drive the wider economy and demands innovation,
new skills and a supportive business environment. Indeed, structural
convergence between rural and urban areas, and in particular the
dominance of the service sector means at regional level it no longer
makes sense to talk of a single, distinct rural economy.
The relationships between the major urban areas, market towns and
their rural hinterlands are now recognised as a highly interdependent
economic system. Rural areas in the hinterland of high-performing cities,
both contribute to, and benefit from, the prosperity of regional centres.
However, sparse or more remote areas are often characterised by low
growth and low-wage economies. There is evidence that focusing on the
economic gains from building stronger complementary relationships
between the region’s urban and rural areas will deliver significant and
sustainable economic gain for these remoter areas, as well as for those
closer to their urban neighbours.
These relationships should recognise the opportunities for:
• appropriate development to support and enhance the value of
these areas
• addressing the economic challenges that prevent these areas from
reaching their full contribution to the growth
• enhancing the quality of life of the region as a whole, for example,
via the relevant scale of service provision.
Approximately 31 per cent of the population of the East of England live
in a rural area. Rural areas will play an active role in the development of
a dynamic and sustainable knowledge-based economy. The region’s
important rural assets include the premier agriculture, food processing
and biofuel locations in the UK, leading agriculture and food processing
companies and entrepreneurs who are among the most productive in
Europe. The rural areas also help to create an attractive environment for
the region, increasing quality of life for the whole population. While many
of the issues are similar in urban and rural areas, the solutions will often
need to be tailored so that delivery is appropriate to local needs.
The provision of affordable rural housing, business support and space for
rural enterprise, and access to other services whether health, transportation
or ICT infrastructure, need to be balanced with the issues of flood risk and
landscape impact in creating successful responses to rural economic
development. The region’s rural areas, and in particular, the more remote
settlements, should accommodate appropriate scales of new development
in achieving our aspirations of a living and working countryside.