Political disenchantment and the urban-rural divide: An investigation of social and political attitudes across 30 European countries

Wed 2 December 2020

Land Economy, Department of

Dr Davide Luca has recently joined the Department of Land Economy. His research explores the links between power, place, and public policy, and it is interdisciplinary, cutting across Economic Geography, Public Policy, and Political Economy. Before joining Land Economy Dr Davide Luca was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, worked for the European Commission, and consulted for the European Parliament. He holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he is currently a Visiting Fellow. 

Relatively little research has explored whether there is a systemic urban-rural divide in the political and socioeconomic attitudes of citizens across Europe. Drawing on individual-level data from the European Social Survey, Dr Davide Luca and his co-author Prof. Michael Kenny argue that there are strong and significant differences between the populations in these different settings, especially across western European countries. The presentation will suggest that this divide is a continuum, running on a gradient from inner cities to suburbs, towns, and the countryside. The differences are explained by both composition and contextual effects, and underscore how a firmer appreciation of the urban-rural divide is integral to future place-based policy responses.

Cost: free