Governments, researchers, and communities rely on definitions of rural places to decide where funding goes, how programs are designed, and which communities are eligible for support. Yet many existing definitions treat rural as simply the opposite of urban, missing the diversity of places that sit along a continuum. The new article A Rural Matrix: A Pragmatic Alternative Approach to Defining Rural for Policy and Practice [1], published in the Journal of Rural Studies by Danika Hammond, Sarah-Patricia Breen, and Ryan Gibson, introduces a practical way to rethink how rural is defined. The article argues that a place-based approach using multiple measures can better reflect the realities of rural communities and support fairer policy decisions.
The article’s key message is simple: rural places are not all the same, so they should not be treated as a single category. Instead of a binary rural-urban label, the proposed matrix considers factors such as population, remoteness, and community context together. This approach recognizes the wide range of experiences across rural regions — including differences in geography, service access, and cultural context — and creates multiple categories that capture that variation. By doing so, the matrix helps policymakers move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and design programs that respond to local needs.
For practitioners and decision-makers, the rural matrix offers a practical tool. It can inform funding eligibility, guide planning, and support scaled policy approaches that reflect different levels of rurality rather than a simple yes-or-no definition. The framework also emphasizes centring place, using several measures at once, and ensuring that definitions are useful in real-world decision-making. Ultimately, the article highlights that better definitions lead to better policy — helping ensure resources reach communities in ways that are more equitable, responsive, and grounded in lived rural realities.
Take a read of the full article [1], available in open access from the Journal of Rural Studies.
