Progressive cities: urban-rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world

Luca, Davide, Terrero-Davila, Javier, Stein, Jonas and Lee, Neil ORCID: 0000-0002-4138-7163 (2022) Progressive cities: urban-rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world. International Inequalities Institute Working Papers (74). International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

In contrast to the conservative values of rural populations, cities are often seen as bulwarks of liberal, progressive values. This urban-rural divide in values has become one of the major fault lines in western democracies, underpinning major political events of the last decade, not least the election of Donald Trump. Yet, beyond a small number of countries, there is little evidence that cities really are more liberal than rural areas. Evolutionary modernisation theory suggests that socio-economic development may lead to the spread of, progressive, self-expression values but provides little guidance on the role of cities in this process. Has an urban-rural split in values developed across the world? And does this gap depend on the economic development of a country? We answer these questions using a large cross-sectional dataset covering 66 countries. We show that there are marked and significant urban-rural differences in progressive values, defined as attitudes to immigration, gender rights, and family life. These differences exist even when controlling for observable compositional effects, suggesting that cities do play a role in the spread of progressive values. Yet, these results only apply at higher levels of economic development suggesting that, for cities to leave behind rural areas in terms of liberal values, the satisfying of certain material needs is a prerequisite.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	https://www.lse.ac.uk/International-Inequalities/P...
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Geography & Environment
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2022 08:30
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 23:55
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/113458

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