Towns and villages host many different types of public and private service providers that people frequently access. However, access to those services can vary significantly depending on where people live. For example, rural residents tend to have longer journey times to access services, sometimes significantly longer than their urban counterparts.
This can impact individual well-being and broader societal goals such as inclusiveness and environmentally sustainable growth. While electronic service delivery is highly promising, it is not always an effective substitute, especially where the service requires some form of physical intervention, for example surgical interventions in hospitals or cash withdrawals from banks. Moreover, the parameters within which national and local governments operate to provide those services are significantly changing in light of sizeable demographic changes, with many regions losing population or facing substantial ageing.
This report investigates the potential impact of these demographic changes on the spatial reorganisation of services in OECD regions and countries, including through case studies and service benchmarks for towns and villages, depending, for example, on their access to a city (or lack thereof).
This document summarises the output of the Regional Development Along the Settlement Network project, undertaken as part of the programme of work of the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The project was presented and benefitted from feedback at the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI) meetings. The work was carried out between 2021 and 2024. This document [CFE/RDPC/TI(2024)5] was approved by the WPTI Committee at its 46th session on 13 May 2024 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.