Village Life: Beyond the Urban-Rural Divide

Abstract

Villages have lost most of their historic features. Peasant populations and traditional farming no longer exist. In Switzerland the share of people working in agriculture has plunged from around 60 % in 1800 to 2.5 % today, and to only 1.1 % in the Canton of Zurich. Non-agrarian economies and ways of life have spread across former rural areas. It appears that the urban-rural dichotomy has collapsed and that villages are becoming more and more urban.