The spatial response

Market towns and the economy of rural areas

Contributing to the prosperity of regional centres

The future of the economy in rural areas is dependent on many of the same factors that drive the wider economy and demands innovation, new skills and a supportive business environment. Indeed, structural convergence between rural and urban areas, and in particular the dominance of the service sector means at regional level it no longer makes sense to talk of a single, distinct rural economy.

The relationships between the major urban areas, market towns and their rural hinterlands are now recognised as a highly interdependent economic system. Rural areas in the hinterland of high-performing cities, both contribute to, and benefit from, the prosperity of regional centres. However, sparse or more remote areas are often characterised by low-growth and low-wage economies. There is evidence that focusing on the economic gains from building stronger complementary relationships between the region's urban and rural areas will deliver significant and sustainable economic gain for these remoter areas, as well as for those closer to their urban neighbours.

These relationships should recognise the opportunities for:

  • appropriate development to support and enhance the value of these areas

  • addressing the economic challenges that prevent these areas from reaching their full contribution to the growth

  • enhancing the quality of life of the region as a whole, for example, via the relevant scale of service provision.

Approximately 31 per cent of the population of the East of England live in a rural area. Rural areas will play an active role in the development of a dynamic and sustainable knowledge-based economy. The region's important rural assets include the premier agriculture, food processing and biofuel locations in the UK, leading agriculture and food processing companies and entrepreneurs who are among the most productive in Europe. The rural areas also help to create an attractive environment for the region, increasing quality of life for the whole population. While many of the issues are similar in urban and rural areas, the solutions will often need to be tailored so that delivery is appropriate to local needs.

The provision of affordable rural housing, business support and space for rural enterprise, and access to other services whether health, transportation or ICT infrastructure, need to be balanced with the issues of flood risk and landscape impact in creating successful responses to rural economic development. The region’s rural areas, and in particular, the more remote settlements, should accommodate appropriate scales of new development in achieving our aspirations of a living and working countryside.

The East of England contains around a fifth of the UK's market towns. These fulfil a vital role as sub-regional centres. Important relationships exist between individual market towns and the region's larger urban areas. Notwithstanding the restructuring of the rural economy in recent years, the region's market towns continue to play an important role relative to their defined rural hinterland. Towns such as Bury St Edmunds, King's Lynn and Thetford have grown their economic catchments and provide significant retail, cultural, tourism and other service and social provisions. Importantly, a number of the region's market towns have achieved growth point status and as such will be expecting to accommodate significant levels of housing development.

Strategic ambitions
  • a positive planning framework, that enables:

    • increased provision of affordable housing within broader plans that help sustain the scale and vitality of villages and market towns

    • provision of employment space that allows rural businesses to start up and grow

    • greater certainty to the market on the deployment of renewable energy.

  • effective delivery of skills and workforce development to rural and coastal communities

  • maintaining the East of England as the UK's leader in agriculture and food sector, supported by leading research centres of excellence and knowledge exchange in fields such as biofuels, non-food crops and agricultural engineering

  • improved connectivity and transport services between rural areas and regional cities to increase connections to the knowledge base centres of excellence, hubs and markets

  • timely provision and take-up of next-generation broadband services, to enable rural businesses to reach new customers and suppliers

  • successful development, management and conservation of environmental assets to deliver tourism, biodiversity and healthy living objectives

  • improved pathways to employment and access to high-quality services for those experiencing deprivation in rural and coastal areas.

back to top »