IFAD Research Series 93: New methods to define and measure rurality in Latin America and their impact on public policies: the cases of Mexico and Panama

Currently, urban and rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean are assigned mainly on the number of inhabitants. This fails to consider the changing and diverse context of rural areas or their increasing interaction with urban and intermediate areas. A better measure of what constitutes rurality will strengthen public policies in these areas.

This paper outlines two index proposals for defining and measuring rurality: the relative rurality index and the contiguity of areas of similar densities.