What Is ‘Rural Design’?

Rural design refers to the practice of creating solutions and strategies tailored to the specific needs, challenges, and opportunities of rural areas. Unlike urban design, which focuses on densely populated cities, rural design takes into account the unique characteristics of rural communities, such as lower population density, agricultural economies, natural landscapes, and often limited infrastructure or access to resources.

Rural design encompasses a broad range of disciplines, including architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, environmental design, and community development. The goal is to create sustainable, functional, and aesthetically meaningful services and experiences that improve the quality of life for rural residents. This can involve designing agricultural infrastructure, sustainable housing, transportation systems, public spaces, and brand management systems that are both practical and sensitive to the local environment and culture.

Overall, rural design aims to address the specific needs of rural communities while preserving their heritage, enhancing local economies, and ensuring environmental sustainability for the future.

"[Rural design] is a methodology to bring design as a problem-solving process to rural regions to nurture human ingenuity, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation."

- Dewey Thorbeck