Rural areas are frequently seen as relatively sparce environments for economic development, characterized by fewer resources and institutions, less economic diversity and poorer access to markets, finance and government support programmes than larger towns and cities. However digital access beyond the locality combined with cohesive community-driven action planning opens up new possibilities for economically and sustainable rural communities. Community groups and businesses can capture local opportunities of a ‘smart countryside’.

In the face of increasing social inequality, migration, social exclusion and declining social mobility the concept of social cohesion now features prominently in discourse about communities both in academic literature and in social policy debates, yet despite its widespread use by academics, policy-makers and public officials, it is a concept whose succinct definition remains elusive.