Creative destruction or creative enhancement? Understanding the transformation of rural spaces: Fid-Bau Portal

Creative destruction or creative enhancement? Understanding the transformation of rural spaces

Mitchell, Clare J.A.

Abstract For more than fifty years, rural scholars have demonstrated the increasing fluidity and dynamism of rural spaces. In select locales, quotidian activity has given way to hedonic ventures as stakeholders have introduced innovative functions to attract the pleasure-seeking consumer. I have described this scenario as a type of ‘creative destruction’. This process, however, does not apply to all rural communities undergoing functional change. To address this issue, I present an alternative neologism, ‘creative enhancement,’ to account for the varied evolutionary trajectories that non-metropolitan spaces are taking. I re-examine three Canadian villages (Elora, St. Jacobs and Ferryland) to illustrate how these twin processes unfold in amenity-rich locales. My findings enrich our understanding of how rural landscapes change as they transition from a productivist-based to potentially multi-functional state.

Highlights • Creative destruction, or functional displacement, describes change occurring in some, but not all, rural places. • Creative enhancement, or functional addition, is proposed as an alternative process. • Canadian evidence confirms that both are underway. • Enhancement and destruction create hybrid and pure landscapes, respectively. • These processes contribute to our understanding of the rural multi-functional shift.