#16 The Future of Rural Areas

Rural areas are diverse and shaped by narratives. They range from romanticization to bleak portrayals. There is no single definition.

The rural is not a new trend, but its content has changed—or rather the words and images we use to describe it have. Different groups of actors pursue different goals with “the” rural. But what does this mean for planning, for architecture, for research, for teaching, for practice? What and where is this subject of our planning, anyway? The following attempts to approach the rural from different perspectives. How, then, do we plan, research, teach, and act in and for a space that is difficult to grasp and whose future development is so hard to predict?

This issue of the future.lab magazine offers insights into the diverse projects and approaches in and for rural areas. Recognizing and shaping the future are the guiding questions.

Guest editors:
Isabel Stumfol, Center Ländlicher Raum

Article:
„Was ist der Ländliche Raum?“
(Isabel Stumfol, CLR)