The urban–rural relationship is historically one of inequality. Despite the endeavours of rural development and the improving quality of life in small towns and villages, the rural divide remains and is patently visible from the perspective of citizenship. Depopulation is nothing but a symp- tom of the lack of territorial cohesion and civic inequality. Small differences can sometimes generate great distances.

This debate has become especially apparent in the 21th century, dur- ing which the spate of crises—the great recession of 2009 and the health emergency of the 2019 global pandemic—relentlessly affect our societies and as such, leave their mark as a defining factor in today’s rurality and the now endemic nature of the urban–rural divide.