4 - Conclusion
The discussion above is an initial and partial exploration of data about a particular rural population, recent urban migrants. The analysis set out could obviously benefit from being broadened to include other aspects of the results, such as the reasons people moved, housing tenure, ways of earning income, benefits received and overall satisfaction with the move. However we do consider that this paper has shown useful information can be extracted from the data set, and that some issues for rural towns, especially those peripheral to metropolitan centres, can he discerned.
In particular, though people from all income groups are moving from urban areas to rural towns, there is a significant proportion of low-income movers in this population. For some of these households, their incomes are decreasing and they are experiencing varying forms of hardship. Low-income in-migrants will be spending on essential items in local businesses, thereby boosting the local economy. However, from a policy perspective, they may place demands on particular facilities, and have a need for different facilities, and may have difficulty accessing to employment.
The results also suggest areas of potential development for these towns. People are clearly naming certain things as advantages of the towns over cities, and have made decisions to move to these towns. Over 80% are happy with that choice (Waldegrave and Stuart 1997b, forthcoming 1998). These are factors that towns can market in order to attract urban migrants or tourists. The services, facilities and local activities boosted by increased population from in-migration are often also the kinds of services which attract tourists to small towns. Newcomers bring new ideas and diversity. Well managed, this can add to the town's economy by encouraging tourists to increase their local expenditure in the town. The in-migration of people may also provide a population and needs basis from which towns and regions can argue and/or market for, the return or development of different facilities, such as schools, health care and retail outlets.
It should also be remembered that any migrants to a town will usually be spending a significant amount of their income in that town. This is especially the case for low income and/or beneficiary households who would be less likely to travel long distances to shop. Such migration could therefore provide a stable basis for business in these towns, though it may he skewed toward 'essentials', as opposed to luxury or niche goods.
As noted above, the changes in households we have shown suggest both constraints and opportunities for rural centres, as a result of the increasing trend of movement to towns and rural centres from urban areas. In order to maximise the opportunities, people in those towns and centres can be helped by awareness of the different kinds of movement happening in their region, or the different needs and characteristics of those groups that are moving and the opportunities for enterprise development arising from a larger and more diverse population. This suggests a need for policies at both central and local government levels, that can take cognisance of these issues
Contact for Enquiries
Rural Affairs Coordinator
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0675
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0745
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