‘Counterurbanization’, interaction and functional change in a rural amenity area — A Canadian example

Recent explanations of population and economic change in rural communities in Canada, the United States, the British Isles and Australia are described and assessed. These are synthesized and evaluated in the south Georgian Bay area at the outer edge of Torontoʹs urban field. Custom census tabulations of data on migration, commuting and population change from 1971 to 1991 documented rapid population growth, a major increase in the elderly, significant migration from metropolitan centres and primarily local work-residence linkages in the study area. Much of the population increase occurred in residential nucleations with amenity attractions along the shoreline. Information from business directories was used to trace economic change. Many businesses formerly found in small rural service centres have centralized in larger communities, but new economic activities related to tourism, construction, finance, services, manufacturing and wholesaling replaced them in numerous settlements. Population continued to increase in places that had lost some or all of their businesses. Population growth and economic change may be attributed to local amenity attractions, location in an urban field, the ‘commodification of rurality’ and structural transformations in the economy. Deconcentration from the ‘Golden Horseshoe’ contributed substantially to population growth in the study area which appeared to be a ‘clean break’ from the Toronto area.