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Urbanization is a main driver of the transformation from agricultural-based economies to service-based economies. At the same time, urbanization might also alter preferences and attitudes such as risk and time preferences that contribute to economic growth and foster this transition. To study the effect of urbanization, few studies have compared individual time or risk preferences in rural and urban settings, reporting mixed results. This study analyses how risk and time preferences alter along the rural–urban interface and assesses the correlation of socio-economic, socio-cultural and demographic characteristics with these preferences. Using such an approach provides insights how preferences are altered in areas of transition as the rural–urban interface mirrors different stages of urbanization.

Using experimental approaches, risk attitudes and time preferences of 1,117 agricultural and non-agricultural households were elicited along the rural–urban interface of the fast-developing Indian megacity Bengaluru in 2016/17. The study reports joint estimations of risk and time preferences and discusses the influence of urbanization on these preferences.

Results show that households are on average slightly risk-averse and highly impatient. The results also indicate a decline in discount rates towards rural areas while risk preferences do not considerably differ between those areas. This puzzling result may be explained by difference response of rural and urban areas to the Demonetization policy of the Indian government in 2016.

The research design compares jointly estimated risk and time preferences of agricultural and non-agricultural households of a rapidly urbanizing area in a low-medium income country.

India is facing a double burden of malnutrition, i.e. undernutrition and obesity. Women and adolescent health and nutrition are very relevant issues which have not received much attention it deserves in India, especially in the context of a girl child. Hence, the purpose of this study is to assess malnutrition among women and adolescent girls as well as the associated factors.

An attempt was made to assess malnutrition among women and adolescent girls and associated factors. The required data was collected from the north (616) and south transects (659) sample households of Bangalore constituting a total sample size of 1,275. The data was analyzed by adopting multiple linear regression and multinomial logistic regression analysis using STATA software.

The effects of this study simply confirmed that, urbanization had an instantaneous effect on dietary repute of women and adolescent girls, while transferring throughout the gradient from rural to urban with the growing significance of weight problems and obese. In adolescent girls, about 31% were underweight followed by normal weight and overweight across rural–urban interface of Bangalore. The factors such as education, consumption of meat and animal products, a dummy for urban, diabetes and blood pressure were significantly and positively influencing the nutritional status (Body Mass Index) of women across rural–urban interface. While consumption of vegetables, wealth index and per capita income had a positive and significant influence on the nutritional status of adolescent girls.

With limited studies and data available in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru, one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Against this backdrop, the study was conducted to assess the prevalence of malnutrition among women and adolescents and its association with various socio-economic variables.

Purpose – To discuss the rural–urban dichotomy and its far-reaching implications, first and foremost from a rural sociological point of view, and at the same time, to structure the volume and present the individual chapters.

Methodology/approach – Literature review and analysis of scientific discourse.

Findings – The rural–urban dichotomy has been very persistent in demographic and other kinds of rural and urban research despite intense discussions about its shortcomings in nearly half a century. However, there are mounting arguments for alternative conceptions of rural–urban relations, some of which are found in the chapters in this volume.

Originality/value of chapter – This chapter presents some new ideas about the rural–urban dichotomy, and alternative, more realistic conceptions of rural–urban relations, at the same time as it gives an introduction to the volume.

Purpose – The purpose is to explore public participation as a means to overcome jurisdictional barriers in governance of trans-boundary wildlife management issues.

Methodology/approach – We present one model, defining six philosophical approaches to public participation, then examine relationships between these approaches and traits of stakeholder communities, revealing three distinct governance paradigms: top–down governance, public input, and public engagement. These paradigms illustrate that the different approaches represent fundamentally different types of participation, not simply varying amounts of participation. Using case studies from the United States, we demonstrate how some state, federal, and local government institutions have successfully applied public input and public engagement models of governance to suburban white-tailed deer management. While both models can be used effectively, certain approaches may be preferable to others depending on specific management context, public participation goals, and target publics.

Findings – Public input approaches appear better suited to addressing complex problems and communities of interest, while public engagement approaches may better resolve wicked problems that affect communities of place. Future research is needed to clarify the relationship between success of governance paradigms and contextual considerations.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter goes beyond many existing approaches to public participation and governance and presents interesting findings related to exurbanized and protected areas in the USA.

This review investigates the extent and content of research into rural firm growth, and identifies and describes various approaches to studying firm growth.

The paper is guided by the systematic literature review framework which, combined with a qualitative assessment, ensures a rigorous review. An initial set of 200 peer reviewed articles was included in the review. During the quality assessment stage this set was reduced to 50 articles which were analysed in depth.

Three approaches to firm growth are identified and explored, focusing on the output, process and context of firm growth. The results further indicate increasing interest in rural firm growth and identify six themes constituting the research field.

Firm growth is advocated as a solution to development challenges, especially in rural settings. However, the firm growth literature is dominated by outcome-based research, often focused on technology-based businesses in dynamic urban regions, whose results are not easily transferable to rural contexts. This review contributes by mapping the current state of knowledge in the field, by articulating and discussing taken-for-granted assumptions with regard to firm growth and by identifying three approaches to firm growth, of which the context approach is the least common but which may prove valuable to further increase in the understanding of rural firm growth.

How are our cities confronting the challenges posed by a warming climate, the loss of biodiversity, and the increasing urban heat island effect? ― This chapter discusses the opportunities and benefits of applying the concepts of renaturalization and rewilding of cities. It introduces nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban planning that are integrated with the aim to enhance urban resilience and to slow down the biodiversity decline, which can be applied in two areas: through the conception of new green neighborhoods and through the regeneration and regreening of existing but neglected parts of the city, such as postindustrial brownfields or economically weak districts.

Contact to nature is essential for human existence, urban well-being, and a good quality of life. Green spaces in cities – big or small – all contribute to health and well-being. However, many cities do not offer residents easy access to green space within the city. Improving better access and extending gardens and parks will deliver a large number of benefits, such as ecosystem services, better water management for enhanced urban flood control, and slowing down the biodiversity loss, with the potential to restore damaged ecosystems. Furthermore, additional green space and NBS help to keep cities cool during heat waves and improve the urban microclimate.

In this context, NBS and regreening can generate significant benefits for citizens, improve urban health and well-being, and offer an opportunity to effectively deploy nature to resolve major societal challenges ― such as social inclusion, food security, and disaster risk reduction. However, it is essential that the design of NBS is fully integrated with other complementary planning interventions and seeks synergies across all sectors.

Development of urban-rural integration is essential to fulfill sustainable development goals worldwide, and comprehension about urban-rural integration types has been highlighted as increasingly relevant for an efficient policy design. This paper aims to utilize an unsupervised machine learning approach to identify urban-rural integration typologies based on multidimensional metrics regarding economic, population and social integration in China.

The study introduces partitioning around medoids (PAM) for the identification of urban-rural integration typologies. PAM is a powerful tool for clustering multidimensional data. It identifies clusters by the representative objects called medoids and can be used with arbitrary distance, which help make clustering results more stable and less susceptible to outliers.

The study identifies four clusters: high-level urban-rural integration, urban-rural integration in transition, low-level urban-rural integration and early urban-rural integration in backward stage, showing different characteristics. Based on the clustering results, the study finds continuous improvement in urban-rural integration development in China which is reflected by the changes in the predominate type. However, the development still presents significant regional disparities which is characterized by leading in the east regions and lagging in the western and central regions. Besides, achievement in urban-rural integration varies significantly across provinces.

The machine learning techniques could identify urban-rural integration typologies in a multidimensional and objective way, and help formulate and implement targeted strategies and regionally adapted policies to boost urban-rural integration.

This is the first paper to use an unsupervised machine learning approach with PAM for the identification of urban-rural integration typologies from a multidimensional perspective. The authors confirm the advantages of this machine learning techniques in identifying urban-rural integration types, compared to a single indicator.

Urban farming is becoming more common in the USA, as food-based entrepreneurs seek to make money farming in the city. Yet many urban farms are concerned with other factors in addition to food production, and thus have incorporated social goals into their missions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the social missions of urban farms in the USA, their extent, and explores differences and similarities among farms with varying missions.

The authors use primary data collected from a 2012 national survey of urban farmers in the USA. In total, 35 questions, covering the 2012 farm year, targeted production and marketing practices, risks and challenges, information and technical assistance needs, farm size and location, age of primary farmer, and farm characteristics. A multinomial logistic model was used to analyze the social missions of urban farms in the sample.

The authors find that food production is an essential part of the mission for all urban farms. Some farms have social missions, as well, which the survey results indicate are related to food security, education, and community building. The authors find that all urban farms, regardless of their mission, are relatively small and face similar challenges in terms of providing the primary farmer with a living. Farms with explicit social missions, relative to those with a strict market orientation, donate a higher share of food from their farm and are less likely to own farmland. Urban farms located in with lower median income are more likely to have social goals related to building community or improving security food security.

Urban agriculture is becoming more prevalent in many developed nations. At the same time, social entrepreneurship is gaining traction. Given the limited ability of urban farms in terms of food production, the social mission of urban farms arises as a possible explanation for the recent growth. This paper provides insight into a new phenomenon, and uses new data to provide insight into size, types of farms, and farmer well-being and address the social missions of urban farms in the USA.

This chapter assesses the effects of two rural community residential advantages – economic growth and availability of health services – upon residents’ health and emotional well-being.

A de facto experimental design divided communities into four analytical types based on their economic growth and health services. Household survey data were gathered via a drop-off/pickup procedure and 400 randomly selected households were surveyed in each location. Physical health was measured with a subset of items from the Medical Outcomes Study’s 36-item short form. A 10-item emotional well-being index was used. Beyond sociodemographic items, questions concerned household assets, medical problems, social supports, and community ties. Nested regression analyses were used to assess the effects of residential advantage upon health, net of potentially confounding factors.

Contrary to expectations, both residential advantages were necessary for improved health. The most important negative net effect on health was aging. Beyond household assets and community economic expansion, miles commuted to work was the next most important factor enhancing physical health. In all types of communities, residents’ emotional well-being scores were independent of age, but positively related to household income and religious involvement.

Obviously the study is limited by geography and by the small number of communities in each residential type. While we could measure the effects of household members not being able to address all health needs, we could not assess the effects of such problems on anyone else in the households beyond the respondents. Our survey approach is also unable to address the effects of rural residents being unable to meet their health needs over time.

Ours is the first study that we know of applying a de facto natural experimental design to assess community residential effects. The interrelated effects of residential community resources for residents’ health suggests that more studies like this one should be done.

While land management can be a subject of conflict in places where the composition of landowners is socially and culturally diverse, it also holds the potential of bringing landowners together across social groups. This chapter uses the case of a peri-urban area near Copenhagen, Denmark, to examine the relations landowners have through their use and management of land within and across social groups. To elaborate the analysis and discussion of social groups, social coherence and fragmentation, this chapter introduces the concepts of homophily and self-categorisation. Interviews with 40 landowners from two parishes addressed four types of land-based relations: (1) exchange of help and services; (2) debate of farming/management; (3) shared interests and (4) friendship. While the pattern of relations overall supported the idea that people interact more with their own social group, the analysis also showed areas of interaction across groups as well. Three overall themes summarise important areas of cohesion/fragmentation: (1) Rented land and contracting, (2) Common interests between landowners including hunting, farming and horses, (3) Urgency and geographic proximity.