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Demographic change in remote areas

Beach on Pabbay, Outer Hebrides. (Photographer: Steve Addy. © James Hutton Institute)

As part of research within the 'Communities and Wellbeing' work package in the Scottish Government's Strategic Research Programme (2016-2021), a multidisciplinary research team including researchers at the James Hutton Institute and Scotland's Rural College are working to answer the following question:

What are the links between trends in farming/crofting/key rural industries and population change, and how do these affect the provision of ecosystem services, and threaten the resilience of rural communities?

This question is at the core of 'Demographic change in remote areas' (formally, Research Deliverable 3.4.1). This page will be used to share research outputs from the work.

If you would like any further information on this research or any content on this page, please contact Jonathan Hopkins and Ruth Wilson.

Research outputs: working papers and research notes

As part of this project, working papers have been produced and are available below. Additionally, short summaries of the key messages from the working papers are available.

A research brief/short report: "Population projections and an introduction to economic-demographic foresight for Scotland’s sparsely populated areas (2018-43)" has been published in September 2020.

download: brief

A four page research note: “Demographic change in the Sparsely Populated Areas of Scotland (1991-2046)” has been produced in March 2018 to summarise key findings from the first three working papers.

download: note

WP1: Copus, A. and Hopkins, J. (2017) Outline Conceptual Framework and Definition of the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA)

download: working paper, summary

WP2: Hopkins, J. and Copus, A. (2018) A Demographic Profile of the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA) 1991-2037

download: working paper

WP3: Copus, A. (2018) Demographic Projections for the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA) 2011-2046

download: working paper

WP4: Wilson, R. and Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA): Introduction, Classification by Delivery Mode, and Selection of Exemplar Services.

download: working paper

WP5: Hopkins, J. and Copus, A. (2018) The Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA): Agricultural and key rural industry trends

download: working paper

WP7: Wilson, R. and Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA): Exemplar Services.

download: working paper

WP8: Copus, A. (2019) A Backcasting Scenario Framework for Demographic Sustainability in the Scottish SPA.

download: working paper

Data resources

Note: the following resources apply to an old definition of the SPA and its subregions which were used for analysis and reference in the research note “Demographic change in the Sparsely Populated Areas of Scotland (1991-2046)” and in the working papers. For the research brief/short report "Population projections and an introduction to economic-demographic foresight for Scotland’s sparsely populated areas (2018-43)" and further work, the SPA and subregions were re-calculated and have different spatial extents. Data resources for the most recent version of the SPA are not currently available (for more information on the re-definition and data sources used, please see the latter brief/short report).

2011 Output Areas (rural areas and small towns, only), population potential and Sparsely Populated Area definition, Scotland. This table shows the number of people who lived (in 2011) within 30 minutes travel from the 13,814 Output Areas in rural areas and small towns in Scotland. download: data, metadata

Lookup tables, showing the geographical units associated with the Sparsely Populated Area (SPA) in Scotland. For further information on the content of these lookup tables, and data sources/methods used to produce them, please consult the WP1 working paper and its Appendix.

Lookup tables, showing all geographical units and their accompanying region/subregion definitions. For further information on the content of these lookup tables, and data sources/methods used to produce them, please consult Annex 2 of working paper 2 (WP2) and the WP1 working paper and its Appendix.

  • 2011 Output Areas, lookup to regions and subregions – download
  • 1991 Output Areas, lookup to regions and subregions – download
  • 2001 Output Areas, lookup to regions and subregions – download
  • 2011 Data Zones, lookup to regions – download
  • 2011 Data Zones, lookup to subregions – download
  • 2001 Data Zones, lookup to regions – download
  • 2001 Data Zones, lookup to subregions – download
  • SCAP Areas, lookup to regions – download
  • SCAP Areas, lookup to subregions – download
  • Agricultural Parishes, lookup to regions and subregions – download

Useful resources from external sites:

Theme 3: Food, Health and Wellbeing - Tender Document (link)

Work Package 3.4 Communities and Wellbeing - Research Summary (link)

Project Information
Project Type: 
Active Project

Research

Areas of Interest


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The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.