Regional opportunity structures: A research agenda to link spatial and social inequalities in rural areas
Jessie Bernard, Annett Steinführer, Andreas Klärner, Sylvia Keim
Abstract
This paper introduces and discusses regional opportunity structures as a concept for analysing the interlinkages between structural conditions in space, social inequalities, and people’s agency, with a focus on non-metropolitan areas. The concept adds value in the following ways: (1) it emphasises the regional scale as an important spatial context of access to opportunities; (2) it accounts for the complexity of the regional context, which provides a plethora of opportunities; (3) it recognises the interdependencies of regional effects and other drivers of inequality; and (4) it takes the regional level seriously as a background of the agency of a region's inhabitants.
Topics & Concepts
Metropolitan areaRegional scienceContext (archaeology)Agency (philosophy)InequalitySpatial inequalityInterdependenceEconomic geographyRural areaSpace (punctuation)Scale (ratio)Structure and agencySocial inequalityGeographySpatial contextual awarenessSociologyEconomic growthPolitical scienceEconomicsSocial scienceCartographyComputer scienceArchaeologyOperating systemMathematicsRemote sensingLawMathematical analysisRural development and sustainabilityCultural Industries and Urban DevelopmentRegional Economics and Spatial Analysis