---
id: ch1-linkages-tldr
type: spine
title: "Rural-urban linkages in 120 words"
readingTime: 1
standalone: true
core: false
teaser: "The one-minute version: what flows between town and country, and why PoliRural+ plans for the flows."
parent: ch1-why-rural-urban
diagram: null
recallQ: "Name three kinds of flow that make up rural-urban linkages."
recallA: "Any three of: goods, people, information, finance, waste and social relations moving between rural and urban areas."
highlights:
  - "Linkages = flows of goods, people, information, finance, waste, social relations"
  - "PoliRural+ plans for functional areas, not administrative units"
status: accepted
concept: rural-urban-linkages
lang: en
lens: generic
depth: intro
formalism: none
visuality: text-first
lengthBand: tldr
genre: explainer
state: edited
carriers: prose
---

**Rural-urban linkages** are the flows of goods, people, information, finance, waste and social relations between countryside and town (D2.2, §1.5).

- Rural areas supply food, raw materials, workers and ecosystem services.
- Urban areas supply goods, services, jobs and, often, better infrastructure.
- Waste and pollution travel outwards; visitors travel in.

People live, work and shop across municipal borders, so PoliRural+ follows EU cohesion policy and plans for the **functional area** they share rather than for each administrative unit separately. The Grant Agreement lists ten key linkages, from food supply to digital connectivity. Each pilot region picks the ones that matter locally and builds a [Regional Action Plan](#c/regional-action-plan) around them.

**Sources:**
- D2.2 Rural-urban linkages and opportunities post COVID-19, §1.4–1.5, Annex D — [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/140/Attachment_0_57.pdf)