Rural vs Island Scotland
This short piece is intended to spark a debate not only in and for Scotland, but also in other countries with mainland and island territories. The debate is about whether a country like Scotland benefits from having separate rural and island policies, or whether the two should be combined.
First, what is rural? According to the UK Government 2021 Census Rural-Urban classification:
Furthermore, rural is not a homogeneous category. According to the OECD:
Against this background, rather than justifying bringing together island and rural policy, the above-mentioned classification and global understanding of rurality would also call, for Scotland, for a policy division between a) rural regions close to cities and b) remote rural regions.
Let’s move away from Scotland for a second. Canada is often considered an example where rural areas and islands are, instead, considered alike. The same happens in Greenland. But the reality is that, in both, the reason why (some) rural and island areas are combined is precisely the reason behind the legitimate policy difference. Both Canada and Greenland have settlements which are so far away from other mainland settlements that there literally is no road or rail transport link between them. They are, from a transport perspective, an “island” that can only be connected to other parts of the mainland by foot or air. In Scotland there is one such rural area, which for funding purposes is already often aligned with islands. The Knoydart peninsula is, in fact, often combined with the Smaller Isles in the Highlands, but again this reinforces the rationale for a separation between rural and island areas and, accordingly, policy.
Moving back to Scotland, most island settlements have less than 10,000 people, but they can also be larger than 10,000 people (for example, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Stornoway). In island communities, transport connectivity and disruption to essential services can be significantly augmented by their geographical location, especially when there is no direct air connection to urban areas.
In Scotland, there is a further difference between rural and island policy because of the presence of bespoke legislation on islands (the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018) that needs to be implemented by the government. This legislation is now under focus, as there are calls for its strengthening, so this is a perfect moment for this blog and to engage in a debate on island policy in Scotland.
In conclusion, the three key differences between rural and islands in Scotland are:
Islands can include urban settlements;
Transport and essential services can be further disrupted because of the island geography;
And Islands have a bespoke place in legislation.
Do these three differences call for bespoke island policy in the Scottish context? I believe they do.