Read full paper at: http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=53722#.VNB0iizQrzE Author(s) Olli Lehtonen , Olli Wuori , Toivo Muilu Affiliation(s) Rural Policy and Research, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland . ABSTRACT It has long been posited that rural areas can benefit from nearby urban agglomerations through commuting, and that their development could be a side product of urban growth, but the results from the sparsely populated regions have not been promising. In this study, we investigate the possibilities of rural-urban commuting to support rural development, and explore the spatial ex-tent of the working regions if jobs are concentrated in the regional centre as indicated by recent trends. Spread effects are simply operated by an economic possibility to rural-urban commuting determined by a sum of housing and commuting costs from disposable income. The results show that the popula...
Scientific Research Publishing