Measuring EU Urban-Rural Continuum Through Fuzzy Logic

This paper aims to provide a multidimensional and continuous indicator of rurality by means of fuzzy logic. A nuanced urban-rural continuum actually occurs in an enlarged Europe. Thus, the introduction of a fuzzy rurality indicator (FRI) can improve conventional urban-rural classifications. FRI takes into account about 1,300 NUTS 3 regions throughout the EU 27. Being a continuous indicator, it highlights those nuances, in a multidimensional perspective: it covers complementary drivers, such as role of agriculture, population density and land use characteristics. The paper also stresses geographical differences among EU Countries and groups of them. In this respect, replacing Eurostat urban-rural typologies, FRI improves both accuracy of further socio-economic analyses and policy evaluations.