Rural Development in an Increasingly Urbanized World
Nayak, P. (2018). Panel Group. Waterloo, ON.
Brock Dickinson is the Assistant Director of the Economic Development Program, the Entrepreneur in Residence and an Adjunct Professor with the University of Waterloo. He was the CEO of MDB Insight, has worked for the U.N., and helped with the development of many different communities, including his own community in Nova Scotia. Throughout his presentation to our INDEV 101 class, he spoke about dislocation, development, and opportunities relating to rural development. He provided great insight for us students as to what it is really like to develop rural communities and things to keep in mind for the future. Towards the end of the presentation, students had a chance to take part in an open discussion on outstanding questions.
Urban migration, also known as urbanization, has become a global trend due to the benefits that urban regions provide. For instance, urban areas offer greater job opportunities, and provide access to more diversity and convenient lifestyles. For those who want to start a new life, relocation to a big city is considered the best option for them. Even Mr. Dickinson chose to move out of his town in Nova Scotia. Urban migration has become a common phenomenon in the 21st century, as can be seen from the figure above. (Dickinson, B. (2018). Urbanization. Waterloo, ON.)
While having a better life motivates numerous people towards city migration, it also creates multiple issues in rural regions. The majority of human resources rush into cities, which causes economic isolation in rural areas. Depopulation leads to low labor productivity and little
innovation. The gap between rural and urban widens due to this movement. Therefore, seeking solutions for this dilemma is critical.
“We are entering the world of the invisible”. This powerful quote Mr. Dickinson referred to in his presentation demonstrates the great uncertainty of the future. Technology will continue to advance and this will have both advantages and disadvantages with regard to development. Karl Marx argued that technology changes lead to economic growth, but this is not always the case (Nayak, 2018). Mr. Dickinson (2018) discussed the idea that many rural communities may not be ready for the full force of our rapidly changing world.
Some important questions that arose during Mr. Dickinson’s presentation were: “how will technology impact rural areas?” and “who decides to implement this technology”? Colonialism and many 1960s top-down approaches supported the idea of the “West” helping others through technology advancements (Nayak, 2018). We must not repeat actions of
It is extremely important that rural communities make their own decisions about what they need and want to see in their society. Development is more than just simply ‘helping others’. It is about forming strong relationships with people and “helping them help themselves”. Brock Dickinson brought up a unique perspective that rural development approaches focuses on “how do we get more”, but rural communities cannot compete with “more”. Therefore rural development approaches should focus on rural areas needs. There is a need for a unique and creative solution that benefits the local people. This is a great approach towards rural development and is an important approach for the future of rural development.
What will rural areas look like in the future as technology continues to
In conclusion, Brock proposed questions like “what is the future of rural development”, and “how will the local people be affected”. We cannot be certain, but following the presentation, we came to the understanding that local communities should be the deciding factor in decision making pertaining to them, and everyone else should support these decisions.
References
Dickinson, B. (2018). Fisher River Cree Nation. Waterloo, ON.
Dickinson, B. (2018). Rural car. Waterloo, ON.
Dickinson, B. (2018). Urbanization. Waterloo, ON.