Envisioning sustainable rural development: A narrative on accessibility and infrastructure from a Swedish region
研究了瑞典中部地方官员对可达性和交通基础设施的叙事，揭示其忽视社会多样性和关键基础设施的缺陷，对区域规划者理解政策问题有参考价值。
Infrastructure developments depend on decision makers' perceptions of the particular policy issue and a preferred future state. The complex relationship between accessibility and rural development and the long periods from problem recognition to transport infrastructure realisations bring further uncertainty into regional planning. Therefore, government and public administration tend to rely on narratives to explain the policy issue and to transfer their perspectives into the policy process. However, oversimplified narratives unduly limit the understanding of the problem and so the choice of solutions. This paper aims therefore to contribute to an understanding of the recognition of accessibility and transport infrastructure as a policy problem for sustainable regional development in rural areas. It investigates the narrative that emerges from local officials' perceptions about a future society, reasons for sustainable growth and the collaboration at the local and regional levels in central Sweden. The analysis details the four key perspectives of the narrative: local people, work and leisure, an urban neighbourhood and public transport services. The findings stress the narrative's lack of oversight and inclusion that accounts for societies' heterogeneity. In particular, the analysis expounds a remarkable faceless story that conveys a prevalent lack of understanding of stakeholder needs and the role of critical infrastructure for societal development in rural areas. • Recognising local conditions and future states is pivotal for governing development. • The narrative tells a remarkable faceless story of societal development in rural areas. • Industrialisation, the influx of people and public transport are considered critical. • Critical infrastructure that provides essentials of societal existence is neglected. • The narrative indicates a low level of visionary capacity at the local level.