Indicators of socio-economic sustainability: An application to remote rural Scotland

Although commonly used and relatively clearly defined in an environmental context, the concept of sustainability tends to be rather nebulous and confusing in the context of rural socio-economic development. In this paper it is defined in terms of three dimensions, structure, performance and dependence. These dimensions are assessed across three groups of socio-economic attributes, those concerned with demographic development, those relating to economic activity, and those associated with community and culture. The resulting sustainability matrix is a potentially valuable tool for assessing the socio-economic status of rural areas in developed countries. This is demonstrated by its application to remote rural areas in Scotland. In countries such as the U.K., which have a relatively long history of regional assistance, the true demographic and economic sustainability constraints of remote rural areas are to a large degree obscured by substantial transfers from more prosperous regions. This dependence is identified as the most important dimension of rural socio-economic sustainability in the Scottish context.