Urban-Rural Divide in the United Kingdom - Case Study Example

Introduction It is notable that about 9.3 million people in England live in the rural areas (Spencer & Rogers, p 13, 2005). This is nearly 86% of the entire population of the country. Additionally, there are over 490,000 businesses in the rural areas registered, which constitute about 26% of the businesses in England (Spencer & Rogers, p 21, 2005). However, it is evident that the urban areas have better development and capacity of growth than those in the rural settings. Another component is that England is not homogenous, as it consists of a vast range of differing areas, some including remote upland farmsteads, fishing communities, small markets, and some peri-urban villages. This diverse population in the demographic makeup of the rural sections of the country also has a vastly broad economic composition. It is notable that agriculture constitutes the relatively vast percentage of the rural economy (Great Britain, p 3, 2008). Through such observations, the government of UK is taking into account several measures to initiate programs that facilitate growth and development in the country, particularly the rural settings to ensure they catch up in development to the pace at urban locations (Farmer & Currie, p 54, 2009). Consequently, in taking these measures, the government is keen to adopt strategies and welfare policies that facilitate growth and development and encourage the working age to be more productive. The policies in their contribution are factoring the component of proofing the policies and strategies adopted to ensure that such strategies and policies of development are effective in achieving success for each of the communities, individuals and business elements in England. Design The urban-rural divide remains a core factor of consideration in alleviating the economic and social development of the entire England nation. The rural divide in England takes three key aspects, which entail the economic growth, the quality of life and the rural engagement aspect of the entire communities in the rural England (Michale Woods, p 581, 2006). The rural statement entails underlining the commitment of the England government to the rural elements that facilitate success. The statement reflects the vision for successful business at the rural community, thriving accordingly in living and working from the countryside; hence, better welfare (Pateman, p 43, 2010). The key objectives of bridging the urban-rural divide in this concept thus base on three key priorities. The vital areas of precedence for the policy entail establishing the economic growth for the rural section. This priority entails creating a sustainable economic growth in the rural areas, which in turn will contribute accordingly to the national; growth for the entire country. This priority is for supporting the working age to venture into opportunities of economic generation. The second objective factors the priority in facilitating and fostering rural engagement. This objective seeks to engage the rural communities directly such that they can get to enjoy the support of the government. It is notable that most rural sections feel neglected by the government a factor that hinders the cooperation between the government and the rural communities (Pateman, p 14, 2010). This in effect hinders growth leading to wider urban to rural divide. However, in focus of this established policy, it is notable that the welfare benefit policy will adequately cover the gap between the government and the rural areas, in effect leading to better rural engagement. The third objective of the rural statement entails the quality of life in the rural areas. Notably, the urban-rural divide continues to reflect accordingly in from the evident quality of life difference among the urban and rural communities. The objective for the welfare benefits seeks to ensure it facilitates fair access to the public services for the rural people, as well as they, are engaged actively in the activities and processes that facilitate the shaping of their lives and the places they live. The quality of life is a key measure of the urban-rural divide and this objective requires key evaluation of the policies in place to facilitate the adjustment of the various strategies adopted in improving the chances of the rural communities in covering the gap between the urban and rural settings in England. It is evident the government realizes the task emanating from the financial crisis of moving to work. It is notable that the government realizes the present welfare benefit system is over complex and the incentives offered are insufficient to encourage the people on benefits to start working (Hills & Waldfogel, p 768, 2004,. The recent government reforms in the welfare system aim to make the system fairer and affordable, as well as reduce occurrences of fraud, poverty and worklessness among the people (Houston & Lindsay, p 135, 2010). Thus, proofing the reforms would help in facilitating more people to get to work while supporting the vulnerable. For instance, the Universal Credit introduced in 2013 brings together working benefits basing on age and distribution of poverty, which in effect considers the divide among the rural and urban populations. Introducing cap on benefit amounts for the working age people will encourage the people to work towards improving their status. The government is evidently setting out the various development agendas it is putting in place with the interest of highlighting the rural areas. The proposed welfare policies seek to benefit the underprivileged accordingly to further the measures intended in securing the better future of the people, their businesses and the communities thereof in England. In approaching the designed policies and strategies, the government needs to facilitate a keen consultation with the entire community as the stakeholders for better insight in implementing the strategies and policies (Milbourne, p 63, 2010). The reflected impacts for the policies are notably going to improve the welfare of the local community accordingly towards covering the gap involving the urban as well as rural divide in the United Kingdom. The approach in advancing the policies is another component that requires notable mitigation structures such as the emancipation of the stakeholders accordingly, to allow the implementation of the proposed benefit welfare policies and strategies accordingly (Houston & Lindsay, p 137, 2010). The screening for the rural proofing will elementally enable the government to approach the proposed strategies better and successfully implement them accordingly, facilitating the bridging of the urban-rural divide. Evidence There is vast evidence supporting the need for the proposed three objective policies and strategies for bridging the gap between the working age citizens and the aging. The key considerations for evidence include the following factors and facts. The rural areas are notably home to one-fifth of the entire England population. The government is keen on establishing the elemental procedures that will facilitate the policy for development and growth in the rural areas for the sake of reducing this gap and facilitating working benefits such as housing and credit offers. However, it is evident that there are key issues that accordingly require keen consideration in evaluating the three objective policies for improving the gap among these settings (University of the Highlands and Islands). The key issues of evidence for the rural issues, which are crucial for taking into account in developing and delivering the welfare benefit policies for proofing include the following establishments. It is notable that the rural areas tend to have more dispersed settlements, which in effect are further from the main centers of economic settings. From the 2010 statistics of population in the United Kingdom, it is notable that a majority of the population of the rural setting is constituting about 0.3 million people are in fewer sparse populations. The sparse populations account for about 6.3% of the entire rural population. Thus, this dispersion limits the establishment and implementation of projects, as the projects tend to concentrate on the areas of higher population settlements (Keating & Stevenson, p 399, 2006). The government needs to consider this aspect in their welfare policies of implementing strategic change; hence, proofing the welfare benefits policies accordingly. The communities in these congregations rely on the small local markets around their settings, which makes implementing the welfare policies established for the development remarkably challenging. Thus, it is evident that the government in factoring the benefit system policies it ought to evaluate the various components available for addressing the challenge of the dispersed location of the communities from key economic centers (Dean, p 356, 2012). This will enable the establishment of effective policies for fostering economic growth and development in the rural settings. The second component of evidence for proofing the policies and strategies the government is undertaking in facilitating equality and development in the rural areas is the ability of accessibility within the rural areas. The rural people do not have essential and reliable facilities to enable access to the various public services as compared to the urban settings. This is evident in that, such services as the transport and broadband networks are not readily and sufficiently available. Research reflects that about 2 million households within the rural settlements in England do not have access to established broadband (Spencer & Rogers, p 94, 2005). This in effect reveals the level of connection of the rural settings to the external world compared to the urban settings in which most urban settings have access to fast and reliable broadband networks. Therefore, evaluating the setting that the government takes in approaching the issue of accessibility to crucial public services is a key element for consideration. This will aid accordingly in establishing the success of the various welfare benefit policies for development taken by these local settings. The government of England cannot take the services for accessing the rural areas for granted in view of the gap that exists between these rural areas and the urban settings in considering welfare provisions (Robert, p 3, 1998). Additionally, the other component of consideration is the difference in population differences among those living in the rural settlements versus those in the urban sections. It is evident that the higher population of the rural areas consists of the older living people. The rural settlements have more aging population compared to the young population, which in effect reduces the ability of the rural setting to have an established working population (Houston & Lindsay, p 138, 2010). Such considerations will reflect accordingly in the frames of the reformed welfare system, enhancing the development of the rural settings. Further, facilitation of support for the vast aging population in rural areas will adequately allow their survival and growth. The England older population, consisting of the people from the age of 45 years and above is predominately living within the rural settlements. This impairs the ability of the rural setting to engage effectively in the economic sectors to allow them grow to the level of established urban settings (Farmer & Currie, p 56, 2009). The young energetic and skilled people move to the urban settings for search of better opportunities, which in effect increases the growth in the urban settings. Thus, the government in facilitating the policies to engage development of the rural-urban areas, it needs to factor the issue of the migration procedures. In proofing these policies for the development agenda of the rural setting, the policies ought to factor the key issues of the opportunities available for the young and skilled people in the rural setting, to ensure they engage accordingly within development of the rural settings. Thus, in these reflections, it is evident the government has several factor to consider in the given welfare policies for addressing and achieving the given objectives for bridging the gap between the urban and rural divide. In view of these evident structural factors influencing the implementation of the given welfare benefit system policies, proofing constitutes a key component of establishing the given uncertainties as evidenced in the factors for consideration. Therefore further evaluation of the given factors and statistics of the stakeholders that are the rural settings, will adversely benefit the implementation of these structure objectives for the government in improving the opportunities and support for the rural areas. The current features designed and established in place for the implementation of the objectives will advance enable the success of the policies. The emancipation programs for the rural areas regarding the issues impairing the development of these areas will adequately enhance the chances of the success of the design propositions for rural growth. Consulting In facilitating the implementation of the prospective objectives proposed for establishment of the welfare benefits, the consultation with key stakeholders is a notable element incorporated. Consequently, the need for rural development allowed this project to undertake the necessary measures for addressing the challenges that would evidently hinder the success of the prospective welfare policies. For instance, in factoring the establishment of the welfare policies, this proposal factored consultation with key economic stakeholders, which would in effect connect the rural markets to customers allowing better and faster growth; hence, better economic opportunities. Another aspect of the stakeholder perspective entailed in consulting incorporated the factor of community education and training. This component is key in the eventual outcome of the policies as it extensively determines the success of the prospective objectives. Further, consideration of social aspects including health and welfare facilities is another monumental mechanism entailed in the rural economic growth proposal, which in effect seeks to narrow the urban-rural divide. Therefore, as the approach to the various proposals takes effect, identifying the rural responses and their concerns are elemental for the conclusion of the various welfare proposals. The issues are clearly identifiable, and this concept allows for the establishment of successful welfare benefit system policies that engage the given structure in place in the rural settings. Further, the targeted population setting will positively engage this strategy for the growth of the rural England areas. Monitoring and Outcomes In monitoring the established approaches for the rural proofing of the given welfare benefit policies for development in England, various monitoring for the outcomes is in place. For instance, the first established means for monitoring this policy roofing strategy and its success is the establishment of the local area agreements. These are agreements established among the local stakeholders entailed in the subject of the various objectives and policies to facilitate their successful implantation. These agreements will engage the proposal accordingly and continue to monitor the success of each of the welfare benefit system policy approaches to give a detailed report of the proofing and its impact. It will help accordingly in achieving the set objectives of the plan. Conclusion This proofing guideline aims at facilitating the welfare policies established in enabling the bridging of the urban to rural divide in the United Kingdom. The strategy effectively factors all components essential including the stakeholder perspectives in addition to the key issues affecting the rural areas. Thus, this proofing will aid accordingly in stimulating the economic growth of the rural England; hence, achieving development balancing the urban-rural divide. References Dean, H 2012, 'The Ethical Deficit of the United Kingdom's Proposed Universal Credit: Pimping the Precariat?', Political Quarterly, 83, 2, pp. 353-359, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 March 2015. Farmer, J, & Currie, M 2009, 'Evaluating the outcomes of rural health policy', Australian Journal Of Rural Health, 17, 1, pp. 53-57, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 17 March 2015. Great Britain. (2008). The potential of England's rural economy: report, together with formal minutes. London, TSO. Houston, D, & Lindsay, C 2010, 'Fit for work? 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