Editorial: re-countryside

Besides compact cities, Western Europe is characterised by low-density dispersion, resulting in a landscape with elements of both city and land . These dispersed territories offer an alternative to a traditional urban–rural dichotomy framework and have been put forward as twenty-first-century cities. However, these territories are currently facing urgent and complex socio-economic and ecological challenges. One such territory is the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai, a transnational region on the border of Belgium and France. The hypothesis is that the evolution of the Eurometropolis territory is closely intertwined with its infrastructure networks. The structure of this article is threefold. First, it describes the non-binary condition in which the Eurometropolis is situated. Second, it analyses the evolution of infrastructure networks in the Eurometropolis from the late eighteenth century to today through case studies. Third, it highlights the potential future role of infrastructure networks in providing answers to large-scale challenges. The research presented in this article demonstrates that transformation in dispersed territories is closely related to the evolution of their infrastructure networks. Moreover, infrastructure – such as waterways, railways and roads – has enabled an urban condition without urban form in the Eurometropolis dispersed territories. In the light of these findings, the article shows that the inherent nature of dispersed territories can be influenced by rethinking these infrastructures to proactively address the collective challenges at stake.

Many high-profile urban parks in the US are experiencing a resurgence not seen since the late nineteenth century due to an influx of funding from private philanthropic organisations. Conversely, despite being essential spaces for rural quality of life, rural parks have struggled to attract private funding. This article compares two urban and two rural case studies to reveal this funding discrepancy. The comparison is used to identify the many roles urban parks play, which make them ideal opportunities for philanthropic funding, and, subsequently, the limitations that rural parks face when attracting similar investment. Ultimately, this article finds that rural parks struggle to attract private investors because rural areas’ inherently boundless and jurisdictionally ambiguous reality fails to provide most corporate philanthropic organisations and municipal leaders with a clear and mutually beneficial suite of financial and political benefits.

The landscape decision-making system in northwest Wales is insufficiently democratised and the main framings of Eryri (Snowdonia) are grounded in the perception and expectation that it is a sublime, distant and static landscape. Eryri, however, is changing. The landscape of the national park is already being impacted by climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Anticipated future change will also bring the need for further adaptation and transformation in land management. Historic framings of Eryri perpetuate ideologies and ambivalences that have, and could, continue to hamper the much-needed landscape change required to tackle today’s multiple crises. This article explores how past modes of representation, newly specialised industries and government legislation have perpetuated a limited understanding of Eryri. It links the eighteenth-century ‘top-down’, elitist rationalisation of the environment and the legacies of longing to find a ‘truly British’ landscape, with people’s current perceptions and expectations of the landscape. This article begins the journey of exposing the dominant ideologies of landscape, helping to define the underlying problem with the current prevailing framings of the landscape of the national park. It concludes by going beyond defining the problem and proposes an approach to actively reframe Eryri. To do this, it acknowledges the need to empower multiple voices, involving diverse forms of knowledge and incorporating new ways of representation within the landscape decision-making process.