Netchain: an analytical approach to local economic development

Traditional rural-urban dichotomy to local economic development has caused a division of policies and practices along spatial and sectoral lines and has undermined the potential of rural-urban linkages for mutual development. However, this traditional discrete approach no longer accords with reality, given the complementary functions of urban and rural areas. A wide range of anaytical approaches has been used to understand rural-urban linkages, but all are sectoral to fully explain the complex and multifaceted linkages between the two. A combination of horizontal and vertical linkages needs to be considered for the simultaneous analysis of rural-urban linkages and local economic development, which is represented as netchain.