Chapter 4

Connecting Urban and Rural Futures

Through Rural Design

Dewey Thorbeck and John Troughton

Abstract Urbanisation has been accelerating around the globe as people move
from rural areas to urban areas for economic advancement creating urban develop-
ment that sprawls into the countryside, eliminating much of the best farmland sur-
rounding cities. By 2050 there may be another 2.5 billion people on the planet with
100 million more in the United States and Australia’s population may increase by
13 million or more. Urban design and planning has attempted to shape urban devel-
opment as cities have expanded, but it has done so primarily from an urban perspec-
tive. Areas of transition from rural to urban and land uses at the urban/rural edge in
the peri-urban landscape require the lens of spatial arrangement from both urban
and rural perspectives to shape, manage, and preserve the ecosystems that people
depend upon.

Keywords Urbanization • Rural design • Urban development • Peri-urban land-

scape • Ecosystem

4.1 Introduction

Urban is defined as having the characteristics of a city, whereas rural is defined as a

combination of natural and human landscapes – in reality they are both much more
complex with integrated natural systems. Urban design and rural design are similar
in that both embrace quality of life. However, rural design is fundamentally differ-
ent in seeking to understand and embody the unique characteristics of open land-
scapes and ecosystems where buildings and towns are components of the landscape,
rather than defining infrastructure and public space as in urban design (Thorbeck
2012).

D. Thorbeck (*)
Center for Rural Design, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
e-mail: jtrought@[Link]
J. Troughton
Guntonia Investments Ltd, Sydney, NSW, Australia

© The Author(s) 2016 45

B. Maheshwari et al. (eds.), Balanced Urban Development:
Options and Strategies for Liveable Cities, Water Science and Technology
Library 72, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28112-4_4
46 D. Thorbeck and J. Troughton

Connecting Urban and Rural Futures through Rural Design discusses how rural
design and the problem-solving process of design and design thinking that can help
resolve land-use issues in the peri-urban landscape and how the quality of life and
the economies of people living and working in both rural and urban areas can be
improved in the process?
Rural areas around the world are undergoing profound demographic, economic,
cultural, and environmental change creating considerable challenges and stress for
their residents and on the ecosystems upon which they depend for their livelihood
and quality of life. Critical global issues such as climate change (that is currently
having a large impact in Australia), renewable energy, water resource protection,
food security, and healthy human development will dominate international and local
rural policy for years to come as citizens and governments try to manage change.
The peri-urban landscape is of particular concern because urban expansion has his-
torically been done at low density requiring large amounts of land causing infra-
structure and public services to be provided at great cost.

4.2 Rural Design

Rural design is an emerging design discipline that was started at the University of
Minnesota in 1997 when Dewey Thorbeck founded the Center for Rural Design
(CRD). Since that time the CRD has been involved in a wide range of rural projects
that impact the quality of life in rural areas, primarily in the State of Minnesota.
These projects and experiences working with rural citizens implied that the princi-
ples of rural design could be applied anywhere and were documented in Thorbeck’s
book Rural Design: A New Design Discipline (Thorbeck 2012). The book is now
being translated and published in China by PHEI.
Rural design is the design discipline that brings design thinking and the problem-
solving process of design to rural issues at both the macro and micro levels while
making connections between urban and rural futures. Rural design is a way to
understand the dynamic behaviour of natural and human systems, and to unify and
conceptualise the complex and dynamic reality of sustainability in integrating
humans, animals, and the environment in both rural and peri-urban areas. We are
living in a time of rapid change and rural design is needed to make connections
between urban and rural futures at the urban/rural edge, and in the process it can
help minimize the negative impacts of change while increasing the positive impacts
with economic resiliency, social interaction, and appreciation for diversity in art and
culture (Fig. 4.1).
4 Connecting Urban and Rural Futures Through Rural Design 47

Fig. 4.1 Rural design is a connector of urban and rural futures

4.3 Rural Design for Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture is gaining strong worldwide support to integrate agriculture into

urban landscapes. It has a long history emanating from the Garden Cities movement
in the nineteenth century and has evolved today into a new vision for the role of
agriculture in urban contexts to enhance quality of life by retaining the land’s capa-
bility to contribute to sustainable societies and cultures. Urban agriculture is an
emerging design opportunity to think about and shape common open space to pro-
vide for food security, water resources and maximize the value of open landscapes
in urban expansion. However, most of the design ideas focusing on urban agricul-
ture that have recently emerged illustrate a very narrow point of view as architecture
that incorporates plants in an urban setting. Urban agriculture is more profound and
inclusive requiring a perspective of both urban and rural design. It is that connection
between the high density city core and the rural landscape, defined as a transect, that
needs to be rethought to fit twenty-first century living. A proposed project that the
CRD is working on in Minnesota will look at that issue to redefine the connections
between urban, per-urban, and rural (Fig. 4.2).
The design process used for this study (involving the University of Minnesota’s
CRD and Metropolitan Design Center, and planning staff from Dakota County) will
provide policymakers a wide range of options as how to shape urban and rural
48 D. Thorbeck and J. Troughton

Fig. 4.2 Twin cities metropolitan region and its peri-urban landscape and the planning transect

landscapes to increase water resources, provide for food production, protect natural
amenities, and identify development rules that will enhance sustainability, provide
housing and public infrastructure at lower long-term cost while improving quality
of life.
This idea was first discussed in a paper about urban development with a creative
commons. The creative commons is local open space that facilitates neighbourhood
development and social progress through inclusivity, creativity and entrepreneur-
ship (Troughton and Walsh 2011). The paper argues that the creative commons can
become a dynamic substrate for urban agriculture by challenging how food and
plant production, and associated activities, can be programmed and managed in
many ways for generations to come. It can create a source of plant and food knowl-
edge available to everyone, but above all it becomes a community asset. This can be
shown as the design approach and as an actual plan (Figs. 4.3 and 4.4).
Rural design provides a methodology to shape rural and urban landscapes before
climate change and concerns for food production and security and water resources
become critical for a rapidly expanding world population. Using community
engagement, design-thinking, and the lens of spatial arrangement in shaping the
human and natural landscapes, rural design can incorporate agriculture into existing
cities and along the urban/rural edge for food as well as opportunities for recreation,
4 Connecting Urban and Rural Futures Through Rural Design 49

RELATIONSHIPS

HEALTH KNOWLEDGE

HUMAN
NEEDS

VISUAL INDIVIDUAL

MONEY MATERIAL

HEARING SMELL COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY

HUMAN HUMAN
SENSORS BEHAVIOUR
DESIGNING
HUMAN CENTRIC
TOUCH TASTE SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL
CITIES NATIONAL

AVAILABILITY SOCIAL (DEVELOPMENT)

ACCESSABILITY ADEQUACY ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

FOOD SOCIAL
SECURITY RULES

STABILITY ACCEPTABILITY FINANCIAL SOCIAL (HUMAN RIGHTS)

Fig. 4.3 Illustrating the design approach

economic development, and environmental understanding. Rural design is a process

to nurture collaboration and cooperation amongst rural and urban communities to
shape the landscape to make connections and provide an integrated system of human
communities, plants and animal production that meets the needs of people, the
economy, and the environment in the present without compromising for the future.
This is particularly true at the urban/rural edge and the peri-urban landscape
(Fig. 4.5).
Design thinking and the problem-solving process of design is a strategic resource
and source of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship to find ways that limited
land and water resources in peri-urban landscapes can be better shaped and utilised.
They are a process that can be taught and utilised by human communities to analyse
issues, seek solutions, and select a preferred pathway to a better future that does not
necessarily require design professionals to generate the solution. Rural design is not
a science, but a methodology for holistically crossing borders and connecting issues
to nurture new design thinking and collaborative problem solving. It recognises that
50 D. Thorbeck and J. Troughton

Residential area
for Disadvantaged

Covered Walk & GREY

Cycle Corridors
WATER
Managed Plant Kids Open
Corridors Eat Play Grass,
School General Cultural,
Garden Sports Billabong

Vegetable &
EATS Flower Garden
Fruit Gardens
OPEN G
GRASS LAND
Open
Re Grass,
st
au Events nts
ra u ra
nt st a
s Re PLAZA/MALL

Transport Corridor

PLAZA/MALL PLAZA/MALL

Fig. 4.4 Illustrating an actual plan

Fig. 4.5 Rural design crosses borders and connects the dots
4 Connecting Urban and Rural Futures Through Rural Design 51

Fig. 4.6 Rural design linking science to society

human and natural systems are inextricably coupled and engaged in continuous
cycles of mutual influence and response. As a process rural design brings science to
society and in doing so it can identify new research questions (Fig. 4.6).
The 2014 International Conference on Peri-Urban Landscapes: Water, Food and
Environmental Security was an exciting opportunity to dialogue about connections
and how science and society can more fully interact for social, economic, and envi-
ronmental sustainability. The authors of this book chapter believe that the Second
International Symposium on Rural Design being planned to be held in Australia in
the near future (the first was held at the University of Minnesota in January 2010)
can be an important follow-up to provide a strong evidence-based argument for
political and policy changes impacting urban expansion at national, state, regional,
and local levels in Australia and worldwide.
Rural Design can integrate knowledge across disciplines, and while not directly
engaged in research, rural designers can translate and apply research knowledge to
the design process, helping bridge the gap between science and society, while
improving the social, economic, and environmental conditions of human communi-
ties on Earth, as articulated by this diagram of the rural design process (Fig. 4.7).

4.4 Case Studies of Rural Design

The following are two case study examples of where rural design thinking and the
architecture expressing that thinking illustrate new approaches to linking urban
design and rural design together while crossing borders. They reflect a desire to con-
nect urban and rural design to provide a product for the market with an architecture
that relates to place and climate – embracing the concept of one healthy planet that
integrates through design human, animal, and environmental wellness – as a way to
understand and appreciate the importance of connecting all life on Earth.
52 D. Thorbeck and J. Troughton

Fig. 4.7 Rural design process

The first project (Fig. 4.8) is a woolshed designed by Australian architect Peter
Stuchbury. The Deepwater Woolshed was designed and constructed for the New
South Wales landscape and designed around the functional flow of humans and
sheep with an adaptable structure that can adjust to change with a structure of
appropriate durability. The award winning building has a beautiful design that will
protect it from the winds and is cooled by water during extreme heat. It is one of the
rare examples of good architects working in the rural landscape on agricultural
buildings that illustrate a rural point of view rather than an urban point of view as
typically done.
The second project is a large installation of glass greenhouses in the peri-urban
landscape of New Zealand (Fig. 4.9) for more effective minimization of environ-
mental risks, while improving plant and labor productivity. The project is a good
example (of a project that has been constructed rather than a project that is pro-
posed) of functional and cost effective urban agriculture that is being utilised more
and more in the peri-urban landscape around cities worldwide. The modern CO2
enriched glasshouse maximises the use of non-productive land, increases the pro-
duction per unit of land area by as much as ten times and dramatically increases the
efficiency of water and fertilisers. Also, it is an architecture that can be recycled.
Development like this may change the face of food security for ever and the
technology will spill over into urban and city farms with the ability to use any urban
nook and cranny to make existing cities green and produce food for its citizens.
4 Connecting Urban and Rural Futures Through Rural Design 53

Fig. 4.8 Deepwater woolshed in New South Wales, Australia

Fig. 4.9 Glass greenhouse in the peri-urban landscape of New Zealand

4.5 Concluding Remarks

There are very few existing studies of the complex food systems that provide food
products to cities and the impact on the environment that those food systems impact.
Those cities along the sea coasts may be the most vulnerable because of rising sea
levels due to climate change. The real question is how can urban populations world-
wide make plans for effective and reliable food sources without some form of urban/
rural partnerships?
54 D. Thorbeck and J. Troughton

The answer will require the involvement of private sector businesses engaged in
agricultural, food, forestry, energy and water to work with the public sector at local,
regional, national, and international levels incorporating long-term resilience with
development goals. Food and nutrition security is jeopardised by climate change,
limited water resources, and the relative lack of accessibility that the increasing
global population has to secure safe food and nutrition (Foster and Gets Escudero
2014). This important study identified a critical concern for balancing production
and consumption making it clear that urban and rural populations must work
together for mutual benefit.
Design thinking is a problem-solving process and a methodology to bring the
evidence of science to help resolve urban, rural, and peri-urban societal needs.
Research issues are by nature interdisciplinary and require a dialogue between citi-
zens and the academy for scholars to understand the issues and respond with
research and effective solutions. The research, however, must recognise that human
and natural systems are inextricably linked and engaged in continuous cycles of
mutual influence and response and this requires an understanding of both urban and
rural to fully respond to global issues of potable water supplies, energy and food
supplies, and the ecosystems services that human and animal communities depend
upon.
Urban design and rural design have many similarities in that both embrace those
unique characteristics in design thinking that acknowledges social and cultural val-
ues to enhance quality of life. Urban design has been taught in university design
schools for some time, but rural design is an emerging new design discipline that
needs to be developed in higher education around the world.
Rural design and urban design are design methodologies to address peri-urban
issues and resolve peri-urban needs. To be effective and relevant for this task, the
methodology must be founded on solid research, and its practice must be based on
validated data that will result in transformational changes. Using the lens of spatial
arrangement in shaping landscapes and methods of community engagement, rural
design helps citizens manage change and in the process it can help organise peri-
urban landscapes and rural regions for recreational, agricultural, cultural, economic,
and ecological purposes to enhance quality of life – urban and rural.
Rural design, when applied with research evidence connected to peri-urban
place, provides:
• Design thinking information to policy makers of the spatial, ecological, and
ethical impact of various alternatives and the choices they make;
• A methodology to resolve land-use issues at a variety of scales, including climate
change and water management, and crossing borders while encouraging collabo-
ration and cooperation;
• A process for geographic information systems and other communication tech-
nologies to enhance urban and rural citizen knowledge to enhance economic
development and business opportunities;
• A community-based design process to empower citizens in shaping their futures;
• An opportunity to bring new technologies to create synergism and entrepreneur-
ship through systemic and holistic linkages and connections;
4 Connecting Urban and Rural Futures Through Rural Design 55

• An understanding of regional quality of life and unique sense of place in the peri-
urban, urban, and rural landscapes;
• A way to understand, connect and resolve rural and urban land-use issues world-
wide for a better and prosperous quality of life for people, animals, and the
environment.
We are living in a time of rapid change and the problem-solving process of
design is needed to make connections between urban and rural futures at the urban/
rural edge, and in doing so it can minimize the negative impacts of change while
increasing the positive impacts with economic resiliency, social interaction, and
appreciation for diversity in culture and arts. Urbanisation and the sprawl into the
rural landscape is also increasing people’s contact with the natural environment
creating concerns for new forms of zoonotic disease transmission from animals to
humans that could greatly impact civilization. A sustainable future will require
cooperation and collaboration between the private sector in the flow of goods and
services and the public sector in defining land uses and infrastructure systems. This
will require high level leadership from involved men and women to break down
barriers and cross borders to find optimal solutions for the benefit of both urban and
rural populations.

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References

Foster T, Gets Escudero A (2014) Landscapes for people, food, and nature. World Bank,
Washington, DC
Thorbeck D (2012) Rural design: a new design discipline. Routledge, New York
Troughton JH, Walsh S (2011) International urban design conference: resilience in urban design.
Internal Publication