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Seminar "Urban-rural linkages fostering sustainable development"Brussels, 23 January 2009"Urban-rural linkages fostering sustainable development: the ruraldevelopment perspective"
Loretta Dormal Marino
Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentEuropean Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen,I am pleased to be with you today at this second seminar on urban-rurallinkages and to have the opportunity to discuss the role of theselinkages in fostering sustainable development. I thank DG REGIO for the opportunity to make a few introductory remarks to today'sdiscussion from the perspective of EU rural development policy.Sustainable development is commonly defined as development thatmeets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable developmentencompasses environmental, economic and social issues. Our attentiontoday will focus on environmental issues: those identified as prioritiesin the EU sustainable development strategy - climate change and cleanenergy, sustainable transport and the conservation and management of natural resources – but also those that are outside it such as land useand spatial planning.However, we need to bear in mind throughout that sustainabledevelopment is about integrated policies and activities. This hasimplications in both sectoral and territorial terms and it explains why
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"Urban-rural linkages: the rural development policy perspective" 23/1/09
effective partnerships between rural and urban areas – and co-ordination of rural and urban policies - are important. You will noticethat I stress partnership. The old hierarchical relationship between ruraland urban areas – where rural areas were viewed simply as suppliers of food to more developed urban areas - has gone. Rural areas are multi-functional. They still provide resources, both commodities and the lesstangible natural and cultural resources we increasingly value such as biodiversity and traditional landscapes. But they are also the locationfor economic activities such as knowledge-intensive services. Thismore complex reality should be reflected in the way we conceptualizethe relationship between rural and urban areas.At the heart of concern about sustainable development is the questionof the use of resources. I think that the relationship between rural andurban areas has become more topical as competition for resources, suchas land or water, has intensified and as we become aware of greater  pressures on the environment. Increased awareness of the need to useour resources efficiently also affects our understanding of therelationship between rural and urban areas. It is more evident than ever that they are mutually inter-dependent partners and that a competitiverelationship is inefficient. Optimum use of resources will only comethrough co-operation between rural and urban areas.The issue of land use illustrates the challenge. At EU level, whatgeographers term 'natural surface', mainly farmland and forests, coversabout 90% of the land surface: of course, the shares within individualMember States differ considerably. This sounds like a high percentage:
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"Urban-rural linkages: the rural development policy perspective" 23/1/09
some will wonder whether it would matter if some of this land wereused for housing or business premises, to relieve pressure on congestedurban areas. But urban centres are generally in the areas with the mostfertile soils – valleys and estuaries – and so increasing urbanizationmeans the loss of productive agricultural land and areas of bio-diversity. If developed, such areas take decades – if ever - to return totheir natural state. In the past 20 years, Europe's built-up, artificialsurface area has increased by 20%, much faster than our populationgrowth of 6%. This is not sustainable and it is why areas such as theregion around Delft in the Netherlands have called a halt to further urban development to protect remaining green areas in the interests of  both rural and urban communities.The threat of climate change has heightened the importance of urban – rural partnerships in making sustainable use of natural resources.Preserving rural areas and the resources they contain from urban sprawlmatters more now that rural areas are seen as actual or potentialsuppliers of renewable energy, whether in terms of bio-mass, bio-fuels,wind or hydro. Taking into account the projected severe impacts of climate change on habitats and bio-diversity, the role of rural areas andspecifically of farmers as providers of environmental and ecosystemservices will increase in importance.In the context of a changing climate, water management will be a particularly critical one for the rural-urban relationship. A contrasting picture is forming in Europe, with the north becoming wetter and the
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