Tackling rural poverty, together

Extract

Economic and social activities transcend a strictly rural-urban divide. Strengthened rural-urban linkages will offer growth and poverty-reducing benefits that span different geographic spaces, and development strategies need to reflect this dynamic relationship between rural and urban areas. Given the spatial inequalities plaguing many developing countries and urban-biased government government policies of the past, we must learn to correct these spatial distortions so that resources like labour, capital and goods can move freely within economies. We need to take into account the territorial dimension of development and base spatially-balanced development strategies on a thorough understanding of the relationship between rural and urban areas.

Published in October 2007