Transforming Urban-Rural Relations in Metropolitan Regions

Urban and rural areas are inherently interdependent, existing in a dynamic relationship rather than in isolation. Cities rely on rural areas for resources, labor, and ecological support, while rural areas benefit from urban markets, employment opportunities, infrastructure, and technological advancements. These relationships have continuously evolved alongside urbanization, becoming especially complex and multifaceted in metropolitan regions.

The evolving relations between urban and rural areas are reshaping the economic, social, ecological, and environmental landscapes of metropolitan regions. Over the past few decades, the urban-rural dichotomy has transformed into a continuum, with urban and rural functions increasingly integrating. The traditionally city-centered core-periphery connection has become bidirectional, resulting in a greater blending of distinct urban and rural spaces. The intensified flows of people, goods, capital, and information between these areas have not only redefined urban-rural relations but also transformed the concepts of urbanism and rurality in metropolitan contexts.

These changes in urban-rural relations have significantly impacted rural development trajectories. Some rural regions have leveraged their unique environmental or cultural resources to promote tourism, while others have cultivated specialized agricultural or manufacturing sectors or have transitioned into service-oriented economies. All these developments are closely linked to the evolving urban-rural dynamics within the broader context of metropolitan development. Therefore, grasping the diverse nature of urban-rural relations is crucial for understanding the dynamic evolution of rural development and for promoting balanced, coordinated, and sustainable regional development in metropolitan areas.

While urban-rural relations in metropolitan areas around the world are experiencing significant changes, they also display considerable diversity in their functional and spatial characteristics, shaped by varying geographic, institutional, economic, and cultural contexts globally. These dynamics and diversities have spurred ongoing theoretical and empirical inquiries from scholars across multiple disciplines, including geography, urban and rural planning, sociology, and others. In practice, urban-rural relations have also emerged as a central theme of interest in the field of global regional governance.

In light of this, we propose a Special Issue titled "Transforming Urban-Rural Relations in Metropolitan Regions." This issue seeks to investigate the processes of urban-rural transformation from multidisciplinary viewpoints, analyze the various modes of urban-rural interactions around the world, assess their impacts on both metropolitan and rural development, and share localized governance practices that foster sustainable and inclusive development through urban-rural integration in metropolitan areas.

Topics include but are not limited to:
Population mobility between urban and rural areas
Urban-rural land use changes in metropolitan regions
Diversification of industries in rural areas within metropolitan contexts
Social restructuring within urban-rural systems
The impact of new technologies on urban-rural relations
Theoretical advancements in understanding urban-rural relations in metropolitan areas
Rural governance practices in metropolitan regions