Circuits of education, rural gentrification, and family migration from the global city

Church schools, educational markets and the rural idyll

“…This finding contrasts with previous research that has focused on urban-rural educational migration as a middle-class strategy (e.g. Smith and Higley 2012), as the majority of parents involved in this practice at Fringefield could be described as aspirational members of the working-class.…”

“…Whilst some families had uprooted and moved home in order to gain admission to Fringefield and Woodington, many had chosen to commute to the schools from urban neighbourhoods, introducing a new dynamic to the processes of counter-urban migration previously explored in studies on rural educational markets (e.g. Smith and Higley 2012). This situation led to a number of problems for the schools and their surrounding villages, including increased traffic and parking issues, as well as perceptions about the changing character of the school and village communities and the relationship between them.…”

“…Rural education is also increasingly viewed as attractive to families from towns and cities, leading to counter-urban migration. A move away from the noisy, stressful city often proves popular amongst affluent middle-class parents who wish to provide a safer, quieter and healthier upbringing for their children in a setting that offers good quality education, frequent encounters with nature and a strong sense of community (Phillips 1993;Smith and Higley 2012). Parents often draw explicitly on what is commonly termed the 'rural idyll' in explaining such actions, reflecting the longstanding association between childhood and nature, and the idea that the countryside is a more favourable environment in which to raise children (Valentine 1997;Woods 2005).…”

Contemporary and ‘Messy’ Rural In-migration Processes: Comparing Counterurban and Lateral Rural Migration

“…Indeed, amongst lateral rural migration this age group accounts for 40% of the households moving into these study areas. The participation of younger age groups in rural in‐migration is rarely acknowledged with the possible exception of Bijker and Haartsen (), Smith and Higley (), and Stockdale and Catney ().…”

A ‘Recipe for Depopulation’? School Closures and Local Population Decline in Saxony

“…Urban–rural migration in Saxony and its education aspect is rather different from, for example, the ‘pull’ effect of high‐quality schooling on counter‐urban gentrifiers in England (Smith & Higley, ). Moving to specific catchment areas is much less prevalent in Germany, where competitive school league tables are virtually unknown.…”