From ‘counterurbanisation as practice’ to the ‘governance of counterurbanisation’: Structuring pro-rural relocations through planning regulation of housing

Over the last four decades or more, counterurbanisation studies have focused on statistical analyses of deconcentrated population trends or demand-side explanations to understand ‘who’ is moving, ‘where’ and ‘why’. These studies, however, tend to overlook how individual preferences are ‘structured’ or influenced by supply-side enablers or constraints. In this paper, we argue that regulatory and policy regimes also matter in shaping counterurbanisation processes and outcomes. In other words, ‘counterurbanisation as practice’ intersects with the governance of counterurbanisation. We examine this theme through exploring the role of land-use planning in relation to regulating rural housing supply that enables or constrains counterurbanisation movements, drawing on Ireland as a case study. Utilising data from development plans, planning applications and a household survey, we evaluate the role of the planning system in identifying ‘where’ counterurbanisation is more likely to be accommodated through new development and in applying criteria in relation to ‘who’ is permitted to build a new rural property, including a range of social and economic criteria to determine an intrinsic need to live in a rural locality. This results in a group we identify as ‘familiar counterurbanisers’. We argue that rural housing policies have been constructed around a counterurbanisation narrative, resulting in policies that privilege selective pathways for counterurbanisers moving to rural localities, specifically for those with a pre-existing connection to rural places (e.g. family links, return migrants).