Rural-Urban Interaction in Rural-Urban Interaction in Newfoundland and Newfoundland and

Labrador: Understanding Labrador: Understanding and Managing Functional and Managing Functional

RegionsRegions

Newville, August 15, 2007Newville, August 15, 2007

CCRC Mandate

To be a catalyst for developing viable and sustainable communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, actively supporting regional cooperation

through the provision of:

– information,

– research and analysis,

– training/education,

– facilitation and advisory services

Photo by Gerald Peddle

Research

• Census of Newfoundland and Labrador Municipalities and survey of elected officials (June 2007)

• Articles and profiles on regional cooperation initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador

• Research on new approaches CRRF - Rural-Urban Interaction in Newfoundland and Labrador: Understanding and Managing Functional Regions

Rural-Urban Interaction in NL: Understanding and Managing

Functional Regions• Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF)• NLFM/CCRC• Memorial University – Harris Centre and

Department of Geography• University of Kentucky – Rural Studies • Provincial and federal agencies • Participating communities and regions

Funding: C/NL Labour Market Development Agreement

Project components1) Identify and map (GIS) linkages between

communities in “regions”, particularly urban and rural relationships

2) Assess governance mechanisms used to manage these relationships, identify gaps, investigate alternatives

3) Assess the contribution of community linkages to local and regional sustainability and create a “labour market attractiveness index”

4) Collaboration, communication, applicationPilot Areas are critical in all 4, but more on that later…

Project components• MNL CCRC will provide outreach,

communication of research & use it to inform activities to improve regional cooperation

• Harris Centre will assist in finding graduate students to carry out research projects

• CRRF will broker same project in other provinces; interest so far in Maritimes, Quebec and Alberta

What Are Functional Regions?• Analysis of interactions represents a

functional approach to regional planning• Functional regions and interactions

amongst communities ignore administrative boundaries

• A functional region is a complex structure of communities and linkages…

• where there may exist a dominant community (centre) through which a majority of interactions flow.

Methods of determining functional regions

1. Functional distance: how far are you willing to travel? For work? For products and services of various kinds? (e.g. milk vs. furniture vs. medical)

2. Concentrations of flows: labour flows (e.g. labour flow maps), patterns of trade/shopping travel, business transactions, volume of mail or flyer mailing areas, agricultural production, student migration, banking and financial flows, traffic/transportation, recreation, commodity flows

Other: population levels, employment levels, crime rates, census areas, political districts, language

Work Flows example

Important, but not the whole

picture

Pilot Areas

• Irish Loop (Rural: Urban Adjacent)

• Twillingate - New World Island (Rural: Non-adjacent)

• Labrador Straits (Rural: Remote)

Role of Pilot Areas

• What do we need from you?– Input into project design, research directions and

testing of research instruments– Providing an area of focus for the development of

pilot research products– Input on initial research findings (“groundtruthing”) – Suggestions for how findings can be presented to

maximize dissemination and usefulness to communities, REDBs and other decision-makers

– Participate in applying potential solutions identified by the research

Role of Pilot Areas

• How do you want to be involved?– Regular meetings– E-mail– Website updates– Newsletter– Correspondence

• Who should be involved?– Points of contact

Thank You!!