Plurality and Rurality; The role of the countryside in urbanised regions, volume 1

From November 11 till November 14, 1998, an EAAE seminar (the 60 th ) was held in Berg en Dal in the Netherlands. The theme of the seminar was the role of the countryside in urbanised regions. This book contains most of the papers presented there. The main conclusion is that the problem of rural regions under urban pressure is not restricted to a few highly urbanised countries, but is at stake in all the countries of which representatives attended the seminar (Belgium, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands). In all these countries regions can be identified in which the building of new houses and infrastructure damages the identity of rural areas near the city, and thus destroys many possibilities for recreation. It is a slow process that cannot be stopped by a top-down policy. New, more bottom-up approaches are required. This implies a revised research agenda