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The Myth of the Immobile Rural: The Case of Rural Villages in Iceland

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Dipping in to the North

Abstract

Popular conceptions of rural populations overwhelmingly been “left behind” have important implications for rural and regional policy. Well-intended governmental strategies for regional development are thus argued to discourage rural folks from breaking the bondage of origin and habit and move forward towards urban opportunities and experiences. Results from a national survey of residents in rural towns and villages in Iceland however suggest that 84% of all adults are either in-migrants or locals who have returned to the community. Three out of four locals raised in the community had lived in the city of Reykjavík, elsewhere in Iceland and/or abroad. This chapter presents policy implications for this, discussed by the minister responsible for rural affairs in Iceland and the mayor of a rural municipality.

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Acknowledgements

This study is part of the research project Mobility and Stability in Iceland funded by the Icelandic Regional Development Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland

    Þóroddur Bjarnason

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  1. Þóroddur Bjarnason
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Correspondence to Þóroddur Bjarnason .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Linda Lundmark

  2. Centre for Tourism and Regional Opportunities, Central Queensland University, Cairns, QLD, Australia

    Dean B. Carson

  3. Department of Geography, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Marco Eimermann

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Bjarnason, Þ. (2020). The Myth of the Immobile Rural: The Case of Rural Villages in Iceland. In: Lundmark, L., Carson, D.B., Eimermann, M. (eds) Dipping in to the North. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6623-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6623-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-6622-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-6623-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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