Call for Papers for Special Issue in Regional Science Policy & Practice (RSPP)
Title: "Remote Working as a Driver for Rural Transformation?"
Guest Editors: Hans Westlund & Nino Javakhishvili-Larsen
The interplay between digitalization, remote work, and counterurbanization is reshaping population distribution and regional development in the 21st century. This special issue explores how the rise of remote work, facilitated by digital technologies, acts as a catalyst for transformative change in rural areas by enabling migration from urban centers and influencing the spatial reorganization of human capital.
Counterurbanization, a key concept in this context, refers to the migration of populations from urban to rural areas (Berry, 1976). Initially observed in the 1970s, this trend has recently regained momentum, driven in part by the rise of remote work—the ability to work outside traditional office spaces using information and communication technologies (ICT). These shifts have reshaped the "post-rural" discourse by blurring the conventional urban-rural divide (Westlund & Borseková, 2025). The emergence of city-regions, which integrate nearby small towns, rural areas, and natural landscapes while more peripheral rural areas and smaller cities decline, exemplifies this transformation. Essentially, "post-rurality" reflects the fundamental redefinition of rural characteristics and functions within an increasingly urbanized and interconnected world (Westlund & Borseková, 2025). The COVID-19 pandemic served as an accelerator, compelling many organizations to embrace remote work, which normalized this practice and broadened its appeal (Eliasson et al. 2025). As a result, many people have reevaluated their living situations, considering rural areas as viable alternatives to densely populated urban centers.
The implications of remote work extend beyond simple population shifts. They are also reshaping migration patterns, with individuals less bound by the geographical constraints of their jobs, when presence on the workplace can be reduced by several days a week. This freedom leads to a renewed interest in rural living, often motivated by lifestyle factors such as proximity to nature, a desire for a slower pace of life, and larger homes (Andersen et al. 2022; Thulin 2023; Haandrikman et al. 2024). Many rural areas, once seen as economically stagnant, are now attracting new residents, including those with valuable human capital attributes (Javakhishvili-Larsen and Andersen 2025a; 2025b).
This shift towards a more distributed workforce presents both opportunities and challenges:
Opportunities: Digitalization enables rural communities to overcome traditional economic limitations by attracting skilled remote workers. The increased availability of remote work promotes the redistribution of human capital across regions, which might promote entrepreneurship and innovation in previously stagnating regions. Coworking in joint workplaces can prevent remote workers from social isolation.
Challenges: These include the revision of rural policies to address the evolving patterns of rural economies and demographics, as well as improvements in internet infrastructure, employers’ willingness and capacity to manage remote work, policy adaptations to accommodate the changing nature of work, and the potential impacts on community structures. Issues such as the digital divide could exacerbate existing regional inequalities if some areas lack access to reliable digital services. Furthermore, the presence of various types of amenities – and combinations of them – vary considerably between rural communities, which make certain areas more attractive than others. The distance to the official workplace and commuting opportunities are of course also remaining issues, even if their importance has decreased.
Remote working is not merely a temporary adjustment due to the pandemic but a new reality that can be a powerful force driving transformative change in rural areas. By enabling counterurbanization, it might reshape migration patterns and influence the composition of human capital in the receiving regions. It also presents new opportunities and challenges, requiring both innovative policy approaches and a reevaluation of regional development strategies to leverage the full potential of remote working for rural development.
Keywords: Remote Work, Counterurbanization, Rural Transformation, Digitalization, Regional Development, Human Capital Mobility, Rural Policies.
Manuscript submission information:
We invite conceptual and empirical studies as well as policy analysis and discussions. All submissions must be original and may not be under review elsewhere.
All manuscripts will be submitted via the Regional Science Policy & Practice online submission system (https://www.editorialmanager.com/rspp/). Authors should indicate in the cover letter that the paper is submitted for consideration for publication in this special issue “Remote Working as a Driver for Rural Transformation”, otherwise, your submission will be handled as a regular manuscript.
Submissions deadline: 15th of December 2025.
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References:
Andersen, H., A. Egsgaard-Pedersen, H. Hansen, E. Lange, and H. Nørgaard. (2022). Counter-Urban Activity Out of Copenhagen: Who, Where and Why?” Sustainability 14 (11): 6516. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116516
Berry, B. J. L. (1976). The counterurbanization process: Urban America since 1970. In B. J. L. Berry (Ed.), Urban Affairs Annual Review (Vol. 11, pp. 17-30). Sage.
Eliasson, K., Borsekova, K., Nilsson, P. & Westlund, H. (2025). Flight from the City? Pre- and Post-Pandemic Migration in Sweden. Paper presented at the 64th annual meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, Lake Las Vegas, Henderson, Nevada, February 12-15, 2025.
Haandrikman, K., Hedberg, C., & Chihaya, G. (2024). New immigration destinations in Sweden: Migrant residential trajectories intersecting rural areas. Sociologia Ruralis, 64(2), 280–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12468
Javakhishvili-Larsen, N., & Andersen, H. T. (2025a). The role of immigrant human capital in Danish second-tier towns and rural areas. European Planning Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2025.2463627
Javakhishvili-Larsen, N., & Andersen, H. T. (2025b). Is the Danish rurality becoming a human capital magnet? In U. Grabski-Kieron & L. Greinke (Eds.), Rural Geographies in Transition: Rethinking Sustainable Futures of Rural Areas (Vol. 11, pp. 224). Münster: LIT Verlag, pp.37-56. Available at https://lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-91700-3/
Thulin, E., Vilhelmson, B., & Brundin, L. (2023). Telework after confinement: Interrogating the spatiotemporalities of home-based work life. Journal of Transport Geography, 113, 103740.
Westlund, H., & Borseková, K. (2025). The post-urban hypothesis. Global Challenges & Regional Science, 1, 100005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gcrs.2025.100005