Course: Unit 09 The New Rural

During the 2020-21 academic year, as a unit, we have considered the idea of working publicly and affecting positive public change.
This year we based our explorations around Cymmer, a small rural town in South Wales.

Smaller towns and rural areas have struggled to exist, as traditional work has been industrialized, meaning communities have shrunk and demographics have reduced to retirement age. Social infrastructure such as shops, schools, libraries, pubs, and even places of worship have been closing down at an exponential rate, only leading to further decline.
Measures imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have prompted a “permanent change in working culture”. Employers have been able to test more flexible ways of working, beyond the open-plan office of rows of desks with screens and keyboards.
Working from home has allowed many employees to abandon the expensive living costs of large cities for more rural or small-town settings where they have better access to open space and nature.

As a unit, we have explored how this new working culture affects the rural condition. What prompts rural/small-town growth, how to regenerate these struggling communities, and which kinds of interventions can help to reintensify small communities allowing people to work from their homes more regularly.
In Cymmer, the recent controversial closure and demolition of a secondary school could be the death-knell for this community.

The following students’ comprehensive proposals have consider home and work within small rural areas, while focussed on the idea of “community” and what can help make these smaller communities work in this ‘new normal/new rural’.