A French countryside revolution

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A French countryside revolution

Expatica, September 08, 2003

The French rural exodus is now in reverse, a government report reveals, as the countryside increasingly attracts townsfolk — and expatriate retirees. Hugh Schofield reports.

Reversing a trend going back more than a century, the French countryside is becoming increasingly populous as city-dwellers take advantage of progress in transport and telecommunications to relocate in a quieter environment, according to a government report released in September.

Quashing the long-held image of a rural exodus steadily draining the provinces of farmers and artisans, the study by the Delegation for Territorial Development and Regional Action (DATAR) says that since 1990 the number of new arrivals far outweighs the countryside's natural population decline.

Depending on the criteria used, between one in four and one in five of France's 60 million inhabitants can now be said to be living in a rural environment, with the trend set to accelerate as the baby-boom generation retires and younger people seize new economic opportunities, the report says.

In the last 20 years between two and three million people have left their homes in towns and cities, according to the national statistics office INSEE.

"It is probable that 'country-love' is a pattern which will last for the next decade", comments the DATAR report, entitled "What rural France for 2020?". "Today 27 percent of town-dwellers say they want to live in the country. Were they to carry out their wish, the rural population would almost double," it says.

"The rural world is no longer an agricultural world. Nor is it a place left trailing helplessly behind modern life following the exodus to urban areas. Overall, the migratory trend has been reversed, notably by the arrival of young populations," it notes.

Part of the phenomenon is well-attested. Much of the rural growth has been in "peri-urban" areas where workers make the most of better roads and faster cars to establish a commuting base outside the city.

French countryside The influx of expatriate retirees from northern Europe to areas like the Dordogne and Provence is also a major factor, while since the 1970s there has been a regular but small flow of idealistic townies seeking a simpler and greener life away from the urban crush.

Indeed the "neo-rural" or "rurbain" — whether commuter, weekender or pensioner - has become a stock character in France, aggravating his indigenous neighbours by ordering his groceries from the hypermarket over the Internet and complaining about the noise of mooing cows.

The report also concedes that there are still large parts of the country which remain untouched by the arrival of fleeing townies — notably upland areas in the Massif Central, Burgundy and the Pyrenees — and which consequently remain economically fragile, with a dwindling and aging population.

However the major change is the appearance of what the study calls "the new countrysides" - often quite remote areas experiencing an influx of young people who bring an entrepreneurial spirit to an increasingly diverse economy based round tourism and service industries.

With the number of people employed in farming continuing to fall, these zones are seen as vital for the regeneration of the "espace rurale" — an issue of high political importance in a country where much of the public remains strongly attached to its rural roots.

"These multi-functional 'new countrysides' already exist and they aspire to become more numerous ... It is one of the challenges for public policy to help give a positive direction to their development," DATAR says.

Responding to the recommendation, the government has announced a series of measures worth EUR 100 million (USD 108 million), including aid to extend broadband Internet connections to remote areas, subsidies for rural airports and tax-breaks for health professionals to set up in the country.

DATAR pointed out that the number of towns and villages that have lost their grocery shop has risen threefold in the last 20 years. But it added that the distribution of sevices is uneven, with poorly-populated areas often having better provision than areas that are growing.

Rural re-population has been observed in other western European countries, including Britain, where — as in France — tensions have emerged between locals and immigrants over property prices and lifestyles.

France is distinguished by having both a much larger level of country-dwellers than the EU average, and also a much lower density — 54 inhabitants per rural square kilometre compared to 100 in Germany. The fact is explained by France's size and the relatively even population spread over the whole of the territory.