The term“country”is usually recognized with an emotional response. Geographically, the environment of the country consists of farms, open spaces and a mixture of settlements from hamlet level to town level which is be called“country towns”. In this paper, this environment would be called“countryside”.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the characteristics of country towns and the structual change of the“outside edge”of the metropolitan area.
Southern Ontario is the most developed urban region in Canada and one of the most intensive agricultural regions of dairy farming and cornfields. Three villages in Wellington County-Arthur, Elora and Erin-were chosen as typical country towns situated outside the Toronto Metropolitan Area. The following approaches were taken to examine the sample villages and to assess modern country towns and their transformation:
First, the beginning of country towns and their early development were discussed. In the sample villages, the land survey and town planning were carried out in the middle of the nineteenth century, and some manufacturing establishments such as sawmills and gristmills were developed. As the surrounding townships were settled, the sample villages became rural service centers. Each map of the sample villages at that time shows its commercial area on the mainstreet and surrounding residential areas. Since the 1900's, the countryside was influenced by urbanization on the one hand and the enlargement and mechanization of agriculture on the other hand. There was a steady decrease in population of the country towns and the townships in Wellington County till 1941.
Second, the data of migration, industry, occupation and commuting of the sample villages revealed that each country town has its own economic base, and that the daily activity space of residents in the countryside has much more direct relation to country towns than to big cities like Toronto.
Third, the identity of country towns-landscape, land use-was discussed. The insulation from surrounding agricultural areas, the mainstreets, detached houses and community landmarks are four main characteristics of the landscapes of country towns. They were mainly shaped before the beginning of the twentieth century, and are established as distinct images even today. In recent years, the land use and the mainstreet show the coexistence of such traditional landscapes and new landscapes in the automobile and highway era. On the main street, for example, there are old-fashioned brick buildings and modern retail stores.
From these three approaches, the results can be summarized as follows:
From the discussion of the structure of the countryside as the outside of the metropolitan area, there is the existence of a settlement system organized by country towns explained by the concept of the dispersed city proposed by I. Burton. J. F. Hart, and F. A. Dahms, used the term to describe the interdependencies of rural settlements which used be called“dying villages”. They pointed out that some of these settlements had outsized economic functions. The population increase in non-metropolitan areas since the 1950's means There is a positive assessment of the countryside, and suggests a new pattern of urban life.
The uniqueness of country towns is based on their historical background and their scattered networks over the countryside. In addition to the residential function, country towns provide diversified functions such as working places, services and tourist attractions. They are characterized as independent communities. Although the synchronization of old landscapes and new land uses is difficult, the space with interdependent and complementary country towns has great potential for a dispersed new urban environment.
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