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A. Doernberg and T. Weith
addition, a growing number of studies have shown the variety of material and nonmaterial interlinkages between distinct urban and rural areas (e.g. Tacoli 1998; Stead
2002; Buciega et al. 2009; Gebre and Gebremedhin 2019). Many observers consider
urban-rural linkages to be an important element for economic development and for
achieving greater sustainability, which has led to them identifying policy fields and
agendas for promoting urban-rural linkages, cooperation and integrated partnerships
(Akkoyunlu 2015; OECD 2013; UN-Habitat 2017; MUFPP 2015; Piorr et al. 2011;
Wolff and Mederake 2019; DV 2013).
In the face of growing global challenges (e.g. climate change; intensive resource
and land use; food, water and energy insecurity; and social and environmental injustice), greater relevance and urgency are attached to the questions of how cities, city
regions and rural areas (and their various interfaces and system intersections) can be
sustainable, as well as effectively developed and managed (Bock et al. 2013; UNHabitat 2017: New Urban Agenda, Seto and Reenberg 2014; WBGU 2016). Urbanrural spaces (especially in peri-urban) exhibit a close interdependence of spatial
functions, different demands on land, and a complex constellation of actors and
governance schemes, which often results in land use conflicts and requires different
modes of research and governance (Repp et al. 2012; PURPLE 2014; Augère-Granier
2016; Zscheischler et al. 2017; Piorr et al. 2018).
No conceptual approaches exist at present that are simultaneously (1) comprehensive in terms of current fields of action, (2) able to capture the complexity of
urban-rural interrelationships, and (3) suitable for practice, also in the context of
regional governance.
This chapter pursues three major objectives. First, it gives a short overview of
societal discourses and the relevance of urban-rural interrelations (Sects. 6.1 and 6.2).
The second objective is to examine concepts that describe and analyse urban-rural
interrelations. The two analytical concepts presented in Sect. 6.3 can be interpreted
as the two ends of a range that displays an increase in complexity from one extreme
to the other. The model by Stead (2002), which is easy to understand and is selfevident, is positioned at one end of the range, while the highly sophisticated concept
of telecoupling (Liu et al. 2013; Friis et al. 2016) represents the other extreme.
Assuming a general science-policy gap (Taylor and Hurley 2016; Diller and Thaler
2017), we then explore how the models can be applied in the practice of regional
governance and sustainable land use. The third objective, explored in Sect. 6.4, is
to present initial ideas about how to rethink these analytical models to address the
practical needs of planners, administrative professionals and other actors involved in
land management in urban-rural areas. Finally, we link the discussion about urbanrural interrelations to the question of governance and knowledge for governance and
innovation (Sect. 6.5) and provide an outlook (Sect. 6.6).
A. Doernberg and T. Weith
addition, a growing number of studies have shown the variety of material and nonmaterial interlinkages between distinct urban and rural areas (e.g. Tacoli 1998; Stead
2002; Buciega et al. 2009; Gebre and Gebremedhin 2019). Many observers consider
urban-rural linkages to be an important element for economic development and for
achieving greater sustainability, which has led to them identifying policy fields and
agendas for promoting urban-rural linkages, cooperation and integrated partnerships
(Akkoyunlu 2015; OECD 2013; UN-Habitat 2017; MUFPP 2015; Piorr et al. 2011;
Wolff and Mederake 2019; DV 2013).
In the face of growing global challenges (e.g. climate change; intensive resource
and land use; food, water and energy insecurity; and social and environmental injustice), greater relevance and urgency are attached to the questions of how cities, city
regions and rural areas (and their various interfaces and system intersections) can be
sustainable, as well as effectively developed and managed (Bock et al. 2013; UNHabitat 2017: New Urban Agenda, Seto and Reenberg 2014; WBGU 2016). Urbanrural spaces (especially in peri-urban) exhibit a close interdependence of spatial
functions, different demands on land, and a complex constellation of actors and
governance schemes, which often results in land use conflicts and requires different
modes of research and governance (Repp et al. 2012; PURPLE 2014; Augère-Granier
2016; Zscheischler et al. 2017; Piorr et al. 2018).
No conceptual approaches exist at present that are simultaneously (1) comprehensive in terms of current fields of action, (2) able to capture the complexity of
urban-rural interrelationships, and (3) suitable for practice, also in the context of
regional governance.
This chapter pursues three major objectives. First, it gives a short overview of
societal discourses and the relevance of urban-rural interrelations (Sects. 6.1 and 6.2).
The second objective is to examine concepts that describe and analyse urban-rural
interrelations. The two analytical concepts presented in Sect. 6.3 can be interpreted
as the two ends of a range that displays an increase in complexity from one extreme
to the other. The model by Stead (2002), which is easy to understand and is selfevident, is positioned at one end of the range, while the highly sophisticated concept
of telecoupling (Liu et al. 2013; Friis et al. 2016) represents the other extreme.
Assuming a general science-policy gap (Taylor and Hurley 2016; Diller and Thaler
2017), we then explore how the models can be applied in the practice of regional
governance and sustainable land use. The third objective, explored in Sect. 6.4, is
to present initial ideas about how to rethink these analytical models to address the
practical needs of planners, administrative professionals and other actors involved in
land management in urban-rural areas. Finally, we link the discussion about urbanrural interrelations to the question of governance and knowledge for governance and
innovation (Sect. 6.5) and provide an outlook (Sect. 6.6).