Urban and rural interdependencies present complex
problems as we move from dense urban cores out to sparsely-populated
rural communities. At the fringe of dense urban development is the
rural-urban interface where management of urban growth and
containing sprawl are often the key issues. In more remote rural
communities, the need for economic development creates the challenge
of leveraging urban-based growth to enhance local vitality. The
complexity of these problems and the competition for resources
between rural and urban areas present on-going public policy
challenges. There is a need to better understand the economic,
environmental, resource, legal and human issues that affect rural
and urban communities. Objective information is critical to
good policymaking and to reducing misunderstandings between rural
and urban citizens.
Some key issues are:
the push and pull factors that are causing
exurban rural development and sprawl
enhancing community growth in lagging remote
regions
the pattern and pace of development, including
infrastructure provision
impacts of farming on natural systems and
farmland as amenities
the quality of rural, exurban, and urban life
green space and farmland retention policy
community governance and related policy tools for
development.
The goal of the Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy
is to lead a nationally and internationally recognized research and
outreach program focused on priority issues related to rural-urban
interdependencies. In turn, the Swank Program will help inform and
facilitate teaching and student research at Ohio State and
elsewhere.
While the range of important issues related to
rural-urban interdependencies is vast, the Swank Program is
currently considering the following issues in Ohio and the U.S.:
Rural-Urban Interdependence
– The so-called rural-urban divide that the media discusses when
describing electoral and cultural differences can be misleading and
damaging for both rural and urban stakeholders. Rural and urban
areas share many interdependencies including regional economic
growth through commuting and shopping; transportation; green space,
and watersheds. Both the smallest exurban rural communities to the
largest core cities can benefit from recognizing their shared
interdependence. The Swank Program will explore these linkages and
disseminate these findings with appropriate policy suggestions for
communities and regions of all sizes.
Multi-Jurisdictional Governance Approaches to Growth
Management
- In Ohio and across most of the U.S., growth management is
undertaken by separate political jurisdictions even though the
causes and consequences of growth and economic development are
usually regional in nature. There are historical and legal reasons
for independent efforts, but cooperation or collaboration on growth
issues could be of mutual benefit. The Swank Program is
exploring the efficacy of multi-jurisdictional approaches for
dealing with certain growth issues.
Understanding Rural and Urban Growth and Change
- Population change in communities is caused by a
combination of people following job growth or jobs following the
movement of people. The underlying degree to which growth is caused
by “jobs versus people” likely differs across communities. Whether
we are discussing declining remote rural communities or bustling
exurban towns struggling to manage growth, their long-term prospects
at least partially relate to economic conditions and quality of life
in the nearby urban cores. The Swank program will research these
inter-related push and pull factors of population change to inform
better policy.
Community Land Use Decisions
- Community land use decisions are seldom the result of a
straightforward or non-contentious process. For example, with
increasing urbanization, rural areas experience an influx of
non-agricultural residents, placing a host of demands on
infrastructure and public services. New legal issues also arise
because they are often not adequately addressed by laws established
when agriculture was the primary land use. The Swank Program
examines how communities utilize tools such as zoning, comprehensive
planning, and referenda initiatives to guide land use and public
service delivery. The Agricultural and Rural Law Program and the
Center for Farmland Policy Innovation are key Ohio State partners
that monitor these issues at the rural-urban fringe, and help
provide analysis and recommendations for communities.
Agro-Environmental Policy
– The environmental impacts of farming, farmland retention,
agro-tourism, and the amenities of the farmland resources have
emerged as important policy issues in Ohio and the U.S.
Balancing individual property rights with broader societal goals is
especially difficult in this case. The Swank Program generates and
communicates information about the implications of national and
state environmental policy alternatives on rural and exurban
communities as well as impacted agricultural interests.
The
Swank Program conducts and supports research, teaching and outreach
within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental
Sciences; the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center; and
Ohio State University Extension. Our goal is to combine innovative
approaches in economic theory, planning, advanced statistical
research, and geographical information systems to create products
that can be used by the academic community, stakeholders,
policymakers, students, and the public.
Research
- Swank Program research has a public-policy focus on issues that
have tangible impacts on the people of Ohio and the U.S. Our
goal is to create academic research that is internationally
recognized and policy briefs that summarize that work in a
digestible manner for the public, policymakers, and other
stakeholders.
Teaching
- Our insights from research are integrated into the teaching
program at OSU and will also inform teaching at institutions
elsewhere. A variety of OSU graduate and undergraduate classes
will expose students to the implications and policy choices related
to rural-urban interdependence. Many of our key findings will be
developed by undergraduate and graduate student projects and
internships.
Outreach
- The Swank Program aims to provide useful information to impacted
communities, policymakers, professionals, stakeholders and
residents. This information will be disseminated in a variety of
ways including presentations, public policy briefs on the internet,
and media reports. OSU Extension is a primary vehicle for our
outreach efforts.
The Process
- The program encourages professional interaction in rural-urban
policy matters. We support workshops, seminars, conferences,
and discussions that include diverse groups that share common goals.
We will seek formal collaboration with other institutes, centers,
researchers, and governments that are interested in rural and urban
policy issues.
The Swank Program Advisory
Council on Rural-Urban Policy Research and Education
helps guide program priorities. Members represent diverse
stakeholder interests from around Ohio.
Swank Program
History and Organization An endowment was established in 1995 in what was then the Department
of Agricultural Economics (now Agricultural, Environmental, and
Development Economics) to support the C. William Swank Chair in
Rural-Urban Policy. The Chair was named in honor of Dr.
William Swank, retired Executive Vice President of the Ohio Farm
Bureau Federation. For over 50 years, Bill provided
outstanding leadership and vision in addressing both rural and urban
issues, recognizing the need for objective analysis to promote the
understanding and resolution of critical policy issues. As evidence
of his vision, Bill recognized a need for more attention to
rural-urban conflict and better rural-urban policy long before it
became widely popular in the latter 1990s.
The Ohio State University’s
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences provides
an ideal location for in-depth attention to these issues. The Ohio
State University is home to scores of researchers with national and
international reputations on issues related to rural-urban
interdependence. Ohio is an excellent laboratory in which to
examine these issues as it has numerous urban centers scattered
across the state with rural communities filling in between. The
growth and vitality of the state’s economy, including agriculture,
are dependent on the successful solution of rural-urban issues.
The Swank Program was launched in
summer 1997 with the hiring of Dr. Lawrence W. Libby, first holder
of the C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy. The activities
of the Swank Program have improved rural-urban cooperation.
Activities have included organizing and conducting national
conferences and symposia, undertaking and sponsoring analysis of
policy options, striving to improve communication among interests at
the rural-urban interface, bringing timely information to
policymakers and citizens, and establishing a national center of
excellence on rural-urban policy research and education. These
activities have also facilitated the education of undergraduate and
graduate students at The Ohio State University.
Dr. Mark Partridge was hired in
the Summer of 2006 to be the second holder of the C. William Swank
Chair in Rural-Urban Policy. Building on the success of Dr. Libby,
Mark will continue to build a national and internationally
recognized program in research, teaching, and outreach. While
maintaining a focus on the rural-urban interface, Mark will explore
broad issues of rural-urban interdependence including those related
to economic development, rural-urban quality of life,
transportation, agriculture, green space, and the environment.
