Asset Publisher

Article

A systematic review of the research on rural vulnerability

Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, Francesco Facchini, Daniel Gaitán, Gerard Pocull and Gerard Codina, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB); Esteve Corbera Elizalde, ICTA-UAB, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA); Federica Ravera, Universitat de Girona (UdG)
Project selected in the Social Research Call 2019 (LCF/PR/SR19/52540011)

Spain’s rural populations are increasingly affected by climate change, biodiversity loss and socioeconomic dynamics, such as the lowering economic value of farming, land concentration and out-migration. All these factors increase rural vulnerability. Research has made progress illustrating how these processes impact rural livelihoods and which measures could minimize their negative effects (i.e., contribute to adaptation) to overcome rural vulnerability in Spain. Yet, this abundance of literature can be confusing, and therefore not very useful to inform policy making. The objective of this article is to undertake a systematic review of the literature (137 articles and book chapters) to help understand where we stand in terms of research on rural vulnerability.
Key points
  • 1
       Researchers of rural vulnerability in Spain have been interested in multiple threats and their interactions, but their approaches have tended to be unsystematic, i.e., without a detailed and comprehensive plan of study.
  • 2
       Around 60% of the articles from this literature review focus totally on single environmental threats (climate change, environmental degradation, natural disaster, wildfire, or drought). Other factors, such as policy, market dynamics and depopulation, are much less frequently considered.
  • 3
       A clear research gap is the lack of attention to social and institutional aspects that mediate vulnerability, such as household characteristics, urbanisation patterns and the level of coordination among authorities.
  • 4
       Studies can be grouped by method (quantitative vs. qualitative), reflecting disciplinary divides between environmental and engineering sciences vs. social sciences. Only a few studies clearly define rural vulnerability.
  • 5
       Governmental actions facilitate or hinder adaptation to climate change and other threats.
  • 6
       Although 25% of the articles reviewed state that there are sufficient public resources, nearly 20% also claim that governmental actions prevent change due to coordination and planning deficits.
vulnerabilidadRuralEN_1.png

Classification

Tags

Subject areas

Related content

Article

Exodus since the pandemic

The pandemic prompted a drift towards less populated municipalities. Has this urban exodus trend continued?

Article

Desertified Spain

Some 17.5% of rural territory is exposed simultaneously to high rates of depopulation and of aridity. This study analyses how some factors for mitigating depopulation can have undesired effects, of both a social and an environmental nature.

Report

Social needs: housing

What social challenges does decent housing represent in Spain? This report analyses three challenges in this field: access, conditions and energy needs.

Article

Why are young people unable to access home ownership?

Employment precarity is an obstacle to accessing home ownership for young people. Rental, which is more expensive, or family solidarity are the main alternatives for setting up a home.

You may also find interesting

Identification violence against women

Article

Identification violence against women


Social Inclusion

30% of the people surveyed for this study stated that they knew of or had witnessed a situation of violence against women in their surroundings.

Sexual harassment among adolescents: most prevalent forms and gender differences

Article

Sexual harassment among adolescents: most prevalent forms and gender differences


Social Inclusion

According to this study, 7 out of 10 adolescents were subjected to sexual comments and insults. Sexual aggression rates among boys doubled those among girls, both in person and online.

Stereotypes intellectual disabilities

Article

Stereotypes intellectual disabilities


Social Inclusion

The inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities is still an unresolved issue.