Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina
We applied an integrative framework to illuminate and discuss the complexities of exurbanization in Macon County, North Carolina. The case of Macon County, North Carolina, highlights the complexity involved in addressing issues of exurbanization in the Southern Appalachian region. Exurbanization, t...
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doaj-bd2f676812d941ccad1054c3856937932020-11-24T22:47:53ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872014-03-011912310.5751/ES-05970-1901235970Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North CarolinaRichard A. Vercoe0M. Welch-Devine1Dean Hardy2J. A. Demoss3S. N. Bonney4K. Allen5Peter Brosius6D. Charles7B. Crawford8S. Heisel9Nik Heynen10R. G. de Jesús-Crespo11N. Nibbelink12L. Parker13Cathy Pringle14A. Shaw15L. Van Sant16Department of Geography, University of GeorgiaCenter for Integrative Conservation Research, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Anthropology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Anthropology, University of GeorgiaOdum School of Ecology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Anthropology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Anthropology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Geography, University of GeorgiaWarnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of GeorgiaOdum School of Ecology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Geography, University of GeorgiaOdum School of Ecology, University of GeorgiaWarnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Geography, University of GeorgiaOdum School of Ecology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Geography, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Geography, University of GeorgiaWe applied an integrative framework to illuminate and discuss the complexities of exurbanization in Macon County, North Carolina. The case of Macon County, North Carolina, highlights the complexity involved in addressing issues of exurbanization in the Southern Appalachian region. Exurbanization, the process by which urban residents move into rural areas in search of unique natural amenities and idealized lifestyles, can often have a dramatic impact on the local economy, culture, and environment. Within Macon County, complex debates and tensions among multiple stakeholders struggle to address local residential development. How can better problem definition benefit rural communities in addressing exurbanization pressures and effects? We asserted that a key factor in the shortcomings of previous solutions was the shortsightedness inherent in policy that attempts to treat individual symptoms without being able to adequately characterize the underlying problem. The goal of the integrative framework is to initiate an iterative process of transparent negotiation, which recognizes a range of potential choices to be considered and to embrace the social complexities that can at times overwhelm scholars and practitioners, inviting simplification and polarization of the issues. This new and emerging framework offers a novel way of approaching conservation and development issues where other frameworks have failed. It helps acknowledge the difficult choices, i.e., trade-offs, that have to be made in a material process like exurbanization. Trade-offs will be necessary in any negotiation related to conservation. Therefore, conflict surrounding specific values, e.g., cultural, financial, or ecological, must be acknowledged upfront to move deeper into issues of plurality. Given the complexity, understanding how the process of exurbanization is being played out within Macon County provided not only an opportunity to demonstrate the functionality of an integrative approach, but also a call for further study of exurbanization dynamics.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss1/art23/conservationdevelopmentecologicalexurbanizationintegrative conservationtrade-offs |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Richard A. Vercoe M. Welch-Devine Dean Hardy J. A. Demoss S. N. Bonney K. Allen Peter Brosius D. Charles B. Crawford S. Heisel Nik Heynen R. G. de Jesús-Crespo N. Nibbelink L. Parker Cathy Pringle A. Shaw L. Van Sant |
spellingShingle |
Richard A. Vercoe M. Welch-Devine Dean Hardy J. A. Demoss S. N. Bonney K. Allen Peter Brosius D. Charles B. Crawford S. Heisel Nik Heynen R. G. de Jesús-Crespo N. Nibbelink L. Parker Cathy Pringle A. Shaw L. Van Sant Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina Ecology and Society conservation development ecological exurbanization integrative conservation trade-offs |
author_facet |
Richard A. Vercoe M. Welch-Devine Dean Hardy J. A. Demoss S. N. Bonney K. Allen Peter Brosius D. Charles B. Crawford S. Heisel Nik Heynen R. G. de Jesús-Crespo N. Nibbelink L. Parker Cathy Pringle A. Shaw L. Van Sant |
author_sort |
Richard A. Vercoe |
title |
Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina |
title_short |
Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina |
title_full |
Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina |
title_fullStr |
Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acknowledging Trade-offs and Understanding Complexity: Exurbanization Issues in Macon County, North Carolina |
title_sort |
acknowledging trade-offs and understanding complexity: exurbanization issues in macon county, north carolina |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
series |
Ecology and Society |
issn |
1708-3087 |
publishDate |
2014-03-01 |
description |
We applied an integrative framework to illuminate and discuss the complexities of exurbanization in Macon County, North Carolina. The case of Macon County, North Carolina, highlights the complexity involved in addressing issues of exurbanization in the Southern Appalachian region. Exurbanization, the process by which urban residents move into rural areas in search of unique natural amenities and idealized lifestyles, can often have a dramatic impact on the local economy, culture, and environment. Within Macon County, complex debates and tensions among multiple stakeholders struggle to address local residential development. How can better problem definition benefit rural communities in addressing exurbanization pressures and effects? We asserted that a key factor in the shortcomings of previous solutions was the shortsightedness inherent in policy that attempts to treat individual symptoms without being able to adequately characterize the underlying problem. The goal of the integrative framework is to initiate an iterative process of transparent negotiation, which recognizes a range of potential choices to be considered and to embrace the social complexities that can at times overwhelm scholars and practitioners, inviting simplification and polarization of the issues. This new and emerging framework offers a novel way of approaching conservation and development issues where other frameworks have failed. It helps acknowledge the difficult choices, i.e., trade-offs, that have to be made in a material process like exurbanization. Trade-offs will be necessary in any negotiation related to conservation. Therefore, conflict surrounding specific values, e.g., cultural, financial, or ecological, must be acknowledged upfront to move deeper into issues of plurality. Given the complexity, understanding how the process of exurbanization is being played out within Macon County provided not only an opportunity to demonstrate the functionality of an integrative approach, but also a call for further study of exurbanization dynamics. |
topic |
conservation development ecological exurbanization integrative conservation trade-offs |
url |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss1/art23/ |
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