Gregory M. Fulkerson offers a complete portrait of what communities are, how they work, and how they are embedded in urban-rural systems at regional, national, and global scales. After explaining the concept of urban-rural systems, Fulkerson walks through the central dynamics of environmental demography, political economy, culture, social interaction, the built environment, and community connections. His focus on urban-rural systems ensures that communities are understood as nodes within a network, overcoming the tendency to view them as self-contained. Each chapter in Community in Urban-Rural Systems: Theory, Planning, and Development offers a blend of classical and contemporary theories and concludes with relevant planning considerations. An additional chapter on community development provides strategies for translating planning considerations into action. The conclusion offers insights into long-term principles of community sustainability and justice.

Gregory Fulkerson is professor and chair of sociology at the State University of New York at Oneonta.