Seminar "Urban-rural linkages fostering sustainable development"
Brussels, 23 January 2009
"Urban-rural linkages fostering sustainable development: the rural
development perspective"
Loretta Dormal Marino
Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
European Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to be with you today at this second seminar on urban-rural
linkages and to have the opportunity to discuss the role of these
linkages in fostering sustainable development. I thank DG REGIO for
the opportunity to make a few introductory remarks to today's
discussion from the perspective of EU rural development policy.
Sustainable development is commonly defined as development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development
encompasses environmental, economic and social issues. Our attention
today will focus on environmental issues: those identified as priorities
in the EU sustainable development strategy - climate change and clean
energy, sustainable transport and the conservation and management of
natural resources – but also those that are outside it such as land use
and spatial planning.
However, we need to bear in mind throughout that sustainable
development is about integrated policies and activities. This has
implications in both sectoral and territorial terms and it explains why
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"Urban-rural linkages: the rural development policy perspective" 23/1/09
effective partnerships between rural and urban areas – and coordination of rural and urban policies - are important. You will notice
that I stress partnership. The old hierarchical relationship between rural
and urban areas – where rural areas were viewed simply as suppliers of
food to more developed urban areas - has gone. Rural areas are multifunctional. They still provide resources, both commodities and the less
tangible natural and cultural resources we increasingly value such as
biodiversity and traditional landscapes. But they are also the location
for economic activities such as knowledge-intensive services. This
more complex reality should be reflected in the way we conceptualize
the relationship between rural and urban areas.
At the heart of concern about sustainable development is the question
of the use of resources. I think that the relationship between rural and
urban areas has become more topical as competition for resources, such
as land or water, has intensified and as we become aware of greater
pressures on the environment. Increased awareness of the need to use
our resources efficiently also affects our understanding of the
relationship between rural and urban areas. It is more evident than ever
that they are mutually inter-dependent partners and that a competitive
relationship is inefficient. Optimum use of resources will only come
through co-operation between rural and urban areas.
The issue of land use illustrates the challenge. At EU level, what
geographers term 'natural surface', mainly farmland and forests, covers
about 90% of the land surface: of course, the shares within individual
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Member States differ considerably. This sounds like a high percentage:
some will wonder whether it would matter if some of this land were
used for housing or business premises, to relieve pressure on congested
urban areas. But urban centres are generally in the areas with the most
fertile soils – valleys and estuaries – and so increasing urbanization
means the loss of productive agricultural land and areas of biodiversity. If developed, such areas take decades – if ever - to return to
their natural state. In the past 20 years, Europe's built-up, artificial
surface area has increased by 20%, much faster than our population
growth of 6%. This is not sustainable and it is why areas such as the
region around Delft in the Netherlands have called a halt to further
urban development to protect remaining green areas in the interests of
both rural and urban communities.
The threat of climate change has heightened the importance of urban –
rural partnerships in making sustainable use of natural resources.
Preserving rural areas and the resources they contain from urban sprawl
matters more now that rural areas are seen as actual or potential
suppliers of renewable energy, whether in terms of bio-mass, bio-fuels,
wind or hydro. Taking into account the projected severe impacts of
climate change on habitats and bio-diversity, the role of rural areas and
specifically of farmers as providers of environmental and ecosystem
services will increase in importance.
In the context of a changing climate, water management will be a
particularly critical one for the rural-urban relationship. A contrasting
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picture is forming in Europe, with the north becoming wetter and the
south becoming drier. The resulting floods on one hand and droughts
on the other will have a considerable impact on different territories and
require integrated approaches. In northern and central Europe, land
management in rural areas will matter increasingly in avoiding or
reducing the impact of floods on urban areas. In southern Europe,
increasingly frequent and severe droughts will pose the challenge of
reconciling the needs of farmers with those of city dwellers and of
tourist resorts. Some regions (such as Cyprus) already have systems in
place to treat and recycle water so that it can be used by both tourism
and agricultural sectors. Other examples will follow as the challenge
grows more acute.
We shall hear more about how rural and urban areas are jointly tackling
these issues in the presentation of the case studies for this seminar.
However, as I said earlier, sustainable development relies on the
integration of policies and actions. I therefore want to address the
question of governance, which I believe is central to the linkages
between rural and urban areas.
My instinct is that, where there are frictions or missed opportunities, the
problem lies in a failure of governance, whether through poor channels
of communication or insufficiently-adapted administrative structures.
You will not be surprised if I mention the Leader method in this
context. From being a self-contained Community initiative, Leader has
become an obligatory part of the EU's rural development programmes,
with the scope for implementing a much broader range of rural
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development activities than previously. Whereas in the past, Leader
was used as an instrument to tackle economic diversification and
quality of life, in the period 2007-2013 most rural development
programmes will implement measures relating to competitiveness and
sustainability via the Leader method.
As many of you will know, this method is based on integrating local
constituents into the decision-making process and on strengthening the
capacity of both individual local actors and the governance capacity of
regions as whole. Contrary to some perceptions, Leader enables
inclusive partnerships with urban settlements of a certain size,
particularly the small market towns which are an integral part of rural
areas. (The size of urban centres included may be as high as 30 000
inhabitants, depending on the Member State.)
I believe that the Leader method has much to offer as a model for
creating sustainable, inclusive partnerships between rural and urban
areas, not least because it provides a tool which can be applied at local,
regional or even trans-national level, depending on the wishes of the
partners involved. An example of this can be found in the rural
development programme of Saarland in Germany, an area with a high
population density (410 inhabitants /km2) which faces the problem of
urban sprawl. Here, the Leader method is used to develop linkages
between rural and urban areas and to ensure that the allocation of
functions in terms of land use is examined by local action groups and –
if necessary – revised.
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In conclusion, I should like to stress that, from the rural development
policy perspective, urban and rural areas are partners, not competitors,
and that they exist in a state of mutual inter-dependence which the need
for more sustainable use of resources will intensify. Particularly in the
EU context, we also need to recognize that there are different types of
rural and urban area, depending on settlement patterns, geographical
features and levels of economic development and that consequently
there is no one single 'urban-rural relationship', but a variety of
relationships which need to be constructed to reflect the needs of the
partners involved and to create win-win scenarios. This will be all the
more likely if we avoid focusing on narrow micro-regions – a city or
urban agglomeration and only its immediate rural surroundings – but
look instead at the wider regional, national or trans-national context in
which the inter-relationship between rural and urban areas is more
complex.
I hope that today's seminar will deepen our understanding of the nature
of rural-urban linkages, the approaches that are being developed and
particularly whether there are unaddressed policy needs at EU, national,
regional or local level. Above all, I welcome the opportunity which
this seminar gives for the exchange of experience and for the deepening
of partnerships between stakeholders in rural and urban areas.
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