The Myth of the Immobile Rural: The Case of Rural Villages in Iceland

Popular conceptions of rural populations overwhelmingly been “left behind” have important implications for rural and regional policy. Well-intended governmental strategies for regional development are thus argued to discourage rural folks from breaking the bondage of origin and habit and move forward towards urban opportunities and experiences. Results from a national survey of residents in rural towns and villages in Iceland however suggest that 84% of all adults are either in-migrants or locals who have returned to the community. Three out of four locals raised in the community had lived in the city of Reykjavik, elsewhere in Iceland and/or abroad. This chapter presents policy implications for this, discussed by the minister responsible for rural affairs in Iceland and the mayor of a rural municipality.