The aim of the study was to explore development of rural communities in the Mqanduli Administrative Area. The exploratory study was further conducted to examine delivery of service to these rural communities. One of the objectives was to empower rural communities for purposes of improving their daily living standards and also to bring about social change.In determining the sample size, forty (40) respondents were selected from Mqanduli Administrative Area. Out of the forty (40) respondents, thirty (30) respondents were selected from the Mqanduli community members, five (5) were O.R.Tambo District Municipality stakeholders and the other five (5) were Social workers from Mqanduli Administrative Area. The instrument utilized to collect data was a questionnaire. Data was analysed using the quantitative and qualitative measure. The outcome of the study indicates that the majority of rural communities in the Mqanduli Administrative Area were in dire need of empowerment which will enable these disadvantaged communities towards development and social change.

The purpose of the study is to substantiate and document the notion that a comprehensive planning policy for integrated socio-economic development aimed at solving the underlying problems of the rural "push" factors would yield more effective solutions to rural-urban migration as a generic issue in developing regions than measures already proposed in these regions. The premise was examined within the context of the existing Government measures geared to make rural living more attractive in the developing country of Jamaica, West Indies. Based on a review of rural-urban migration in Latin America, of which Jamaica is a part, it is indicated that the movement has reached unprecedented levels. The impoverished economic and social conditions of the countryside are real as evidenced by the ever increasing flow of rural-urban migration mainly to one urban area. The cities are unable to employ all their inhabitants and consequently various measures of raising the level of rural living have been introduced. In Latin America the principal focus has been on land tenure and colonization but these have always fallen short of their aim. Such schemes need groupings of people into urban centres for their success. Bolder attempts at coordination of measures at the national and local level are vital. The case study of Jamaica reveals that rural to urban migration has become an increasingly important phenomenon. The main currents have meant a movement to the Kingston and St. Andrew Metropolitan Area. However, the rate and volume of the movement far exceed the current absorptive capacities of this area and this has created problems pertaining to under-employment, housing shortages and certain social ills. Faced with these problems, the Government of Jamaica has, since 1938, initiated measures to halt the growing trek of rural population to the city. The Land Settlement scheme involving the distribution of small plots of land to the rural population, previously introduced in the l880’s, was vigourously pursued after 1938. Since the 1940's, however, the main area of concentration of policy switched to measures for rehabilitation of the hillsides and improvements with the land. These have been implemented through the Farm Improvement Scheme, 1947; the Land Authorities Law, 1951; the Farm Recovery Scheme, 1951; the Farm Development Scheme, 1955; the Agricultural Development Programme, I960 and the Farm Production Programme in 1963. Improvements to the social environment have been mainly through the Social Development Commission and the 4-H Clubs. While the schemes have been instrumental in increasing total area under cultivation they have been far from successful in raising rural levels of living with the aim of controlling rural-urban migration. They were only concerned with issues relating to the land with insufficient thought for the people who occupied that land. The attempts made by the Social Development Commission have achieved little, if any, success in stemming rural flows. This thesis reveals a formidable gap between these government measures and what rural Jamaica requires. The needs of the latter are non-agricultural in nature and revolve about the provision of modest urban services which have become a normal feature of daily living. It is concluded that this could be achieved through a system leading to the "rurbanization" of rural Jamaica—a process that would create an urban environment but at the same time would not be truly urban. All the basic services and amenities would be provided and concentrated in selected existing centres. These "rurban" centres arranged in an integrated manner would have advantages that would serve to facilitate the transformation of rural areas into stable societies, and in addition assist the process of modernization which Jamaica is now undergoing. For best results the island must be divided into regions. It is concluded that the Town Planning Department of Jamaica should guide the physical planning of these settlements as it is already charged with the necessary powers. The solution has implications not only for Jamaica but also for other developing regions. Plans for rural reconstruction aimed at curbing rural-urban migration in these areas need to give a more prominent place to basic urban factors than has been customary in the past. An urban environment is necessary for the modernization process the regions are now pursuing. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

After being neglected for two decades, rural areas in China are experiencing another wave of reform. There has been increasing attention from central government on rural issues and a series of rural resurgence policies were published with a central idea of ‘urban-rural integration and New Socialist Rural Construction Programme’ (State Council, 2010b). Planning as a policy tool to guide development has just began to cover rural areas in China. There is a need to develop a framework, both theoretically robust and deliverable, to guide rural planning in China. ‘Spatial planning’ has been widely adopted as a planning approach in Western Europe, including the UK, to achieve sustainable development. Hence, the research aims to use the concept of ‘spatial planning’ to identify potential ways to integrate rural areas into the complex planning system that currently exists in China. The research was carried out through a case study approach in three municipal cities in Jiangsu province, China. The newly developed rural planning system in Jiangsu province mainly focuses on the development control of towns and villages, physical landuse regulation and the renovation of settlements through town and village distribution planning and village planning. There is a lack of development planning for rural areas. The findings also show that the new urban and rural planning system generally fails to integrate urban and rural development, though in some developed areas more attention has been put on urban-rural integration planning. Moreover, it is found that, in many areas, the new urban and rural planning framework tends to be urban-centre-led and economically driven, which has led to the loss of rural landscape and characteristics. The research also identifies the weakness of planning at the local scale in coordinating policies and projects of different sectors. In addition, local government plays a leading role in the making and delivery of rural planning in China and, in some areas, local government activities in rural development and planning are much more a political response to the national and provincial government’s policy rather than the local demands. Based on these findings, the research provides some policy recommendations for modifying the current rural planning framework in China to overcome these problems in the short and long term by making reference to some of the key ideas of the spatial planning approach.

Strategies of rural development in China experienced sharp changes in the policies for rural economic reform which began in the late 1970s. Contrary to the previous model of a "pure" socialist way of development, which argued for a single developmental path, the reform policies encouraged diversification. Peasant adaptation to the new situation is examined through the co-existence of three kinds of households, namely subsistence cropping households, cash cropping households and partial agricultural households. The thesis attempts to determine the characteristics associated with the different kinds of households by analyzing survey data collected from five townships in the Pearl River Delta of south China. It also attempts to bring out some theoretical implications of the Chinese experiences of rural development in the past forty years. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

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This thesis explores the gentrification of a rural village along the Ecuadorian coast by exploring its connection with the tourism industry. Through the use of several ethnographic methods, the data collected demonstrates gentrification outside of the context of urban areas by focusing on a rural area of the Global South. The rural gentrification of this village results in drastic increases in land value and the subordination of local people within the labor hierarchy, relegating them to positions of service. As the dominant economy, tourism leaves locals with few avenues for economic mobility. In doing so, tourism forces its own reproduction as locals engage in the industry through the creation of their own touristic businesses. Finally, this thesis exhibits how local communities control the type of tourism and tourists they host. Community-tourism discourse provides us with the tools necessary to illustrate local hosts as dynamic actors who sustain the tourism industry. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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