The 2004 definition of rural areas of England and Wales was a joint project of Defra, the Office for National Statistics, the Countryside Agency and the Welsh Assembly Government. The definition was delivered in its final form by the RERC (Sheffield and Birkbeck).
» Downloads for Rural Definitions
The reports and presentations in this section go broadly under the heading of ‘evidence strategies’. They are mainly concerned with looking at aspects of rural development within a national framework which contain sufficient detail to be relevant at the regional and local levels.
» Downloads for Evidence Strategies
Demography is the study of the size, growth, age and geographical distribution of human populations, including births, deaths, marriages, and migrations.
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The RERC is currently focusing more research attention on the small towns and large villages of rural England. A precise definition of such places is problematic and depends ultimately on the aims of such a definition. The basis of our research therefore is a wide definition based upon the ONS 2001 Urban Areas concept and includes all urban places with populations between 1500 and 40,000 in 2001. From this basis we will identify more specific types of rural town including, for example, actual and potential rural service centres of various kinds.
» Downloads for Small Towns
Longitudinal surveys collect data about the same individual at different points in time, allowing us to track change at the level of the individual or household. Longitudinal surveys play a major part in developing our understanding of social change, including such things as the role of education in social mobility, the impact of family situations on child development and how periods of unemployment affect individual and household welfare.
» Downloads for Longitudinal Surveys
In 2004 the RERC produced a paper for Defra entitled ‘Social and Economic Change and Diversity in Rural Areas’ which was a first look at rural change across England using data from the 2001 Census and other sources. The paper covered such matters as population change, income and earnings, employment and economic activity and a number of indicators of social disadvantage.
» Downloads for Social and Economic Change
Tackling health inequalities is a long-standing priority for Government. Policy is focused on narrowing the health gap between disadvantaged groups, communities and the rest of the country and on improving health overall.
» Downloads for Rural Health
There are two aspects to RERC work in the field of rural transport: the impact of transport policies on rural areas and 2001 Census based studies of patterns and modes of travel to work in rural areas.
» Downloads for Rural Transport
This section gives access to presentations given by RERC contributors to various audiences on a number of topics, though mainly on the rural definition and classification, and the work of the RERC.
» Downloads for Presentations
The RERC has commissioned reviews of specialist areas of rural social life and the economy. Those available so far can be found in this section.
» Downloads for Reviews
