What Does It Mean to Be Rural?

August 26, 2026 · 72 slides

Original slide sequence and text. Use the syllabus for current requirements and deadlines.

Lecture PDFVisual dictionary
Slide 1: What Does It Mean to Be Rural?
Slide 1 of 72 · Open full size

WEEK 01

What Does It Mean to Be Rural?

Rural Planning and Economic Development

PLAC 5500-001 | LPPP 5999-001

Slide 2: Who is in the room?
Slide 2 of 72 · Open full size

INTRODUCTIONS

Who is in the room?

NAME What should we call you?

SCHOOL + YEAR Your school, program, and year.

SKILLS GIS, sketching, data analysis, writing, design, coding, facilitation, or something else.

WHY THIS CLASS What brought you to Rural Planning and Economic Development?

https://arcg.is/1q4unr

Slide 3: Planning from regions to villages
Slide 3 of 72 · Open full size

WORK I HAVE DONE AND AM DOING

Planning from regions to villages

SHENANDOAH COUNTY Shenandoah 2045 comprehensive planning and town-county collaboration.

STAUNTON + WAYNESBORO + NEW MARKET Current comprehensive-plan work.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, VA County comprehensive plan and village plans.

PENDLETON COUNTY, WV Recreation Economy for Rural Communities planning.

UVA | BATTEN + SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Slide 4: From the comprehensive plan to the street
Slide 4 of 72 · Open full size

SELECTED PLANNING WORK

From the comprehensive plan to the street

PULASKI

Multimodal plan

WISE

Street corridor connectivity plan

ST. PAUL

Rural economic development and implementation

Slide 5: The basics
Slide 5 of 72 · Open full size

SYLLABUS OVERVIEW

The basics

COURSE Rural Planning and Economic Development

CREDITS PLAC 5500-001 | LPPP 5999-001 | 3 credits

MEETING Wednesdays, 3:30-6:00 p.m. | Campbell Hall 220C

INSTRUCTOR Tyler Hinkle, AICP | jth4qt@virginia.edu | 540-333-0285

OFFICE HOURS 6:00-6:30 p.m. after class or by appointment

Slide 6: Rural and urban are not opposites
Slide 6 of 72 · Open full size

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Rural and urban are not opposites

One building standing alone in the countryside is experienced as a work of architecture, but bring a half dozen buildings together and an art other than architecture is made possible. - Gordon Cullen

We will study rural places as part of larger systems of townscape, land, infrastructure, culture, finance, and regional connection.

Slide 7: Six chapters
Slide 7 of 72 · Open full size

THE COURSE NARRATIVE

Six chapters

What does it mean to be rural?

Small Town Feel: Comprehensive Plans, the People, and Their Connections

The Townscape: An Ancestral Solution to Sustainable Living

Rural by Design: Recreation, Conservation, the Countryside, and the Threat

The Cost: How We Financially Plan to Remain Rural

How does the past inspire the future?

Slide 8: What you should be able to do by December
Slide 8 of 72 · Open full size

LEARNING OUTCOMES

What you should be able to do by December

READ

Analyze urban form and identify how to improve it.

DRAW

Sketch and map urban settings and general strategies.

ANALYZE

Evaluate resources, risks, and methods for protection or improvement.

PLAN

Compile a community planning document tailored to a real need.

PRESENT

Communicate with officials and community representatives.

RESOLVE

Process conflicting information and reach a responsible resolution.

DELIVER

Work as a team to meet professional deliverables.

Slide 9: No books to purchase
Slide 9 of 72 · Open full size

MATERIALS

No books to purchase

BRING Trace paper, color markers, and an engineering scale for workshops.

PROVIDED Digital readings, free courses, videos, modules, examples, and project resources.

READINGS The Concise Townscape, Rural by Design, Strong Towns 101, and the other sources listed by week.

OPTIONAL BONUS An exceptional personal sketchbook may earn up to two bonus points.

Slide 10: Lecture, discussion, workshop, studio
Slide 10 of 72 · Open full size

HOW CLASS WORKS

Lecture, discussion, workshop, studio

PREPARE Complete the assigned reading or viewing and bring your seminar brief when scheduled.

DISCUSS Explain what you think, listen to other interpretations, and revise your position when evidence changes it.

PRACTICE Learn methods through in-class demonstrations and applied assignments.

BUILD Use class time to move the community project forward with your team.

DOCUMENT Keep handwritten notes and a lived experience journal throughout the semester.

Slide 11: Where the grade comes from
Slide 11 of 72 · Open full size

GRADING

Where the grade comes from

55%

Team Community Planning Document

12%

Seminar Briefs and In-Class Discussion

12%

Four Individual Applied Assignments

11%

Lived Experience Journal and Final Paper

10%

Attendance and Participation

Slide 12: Write it. Bring it. Defend it. Revise it.
Slide 12 of 72 · Open full size

SEMINAR BRIEFS

Write it. Bring it. Defend it. Revise it.

SIX BRIEFS Normally 100-300 words, each developing a claim, evidence, and a question or implication.

TWO POINTS EACH One point for depth and preparation. One point for substantive in-class contribution.

LIVE EXPLANATION Explain your point in less than three minutes and extend or revise your thinking during discussion.

AI Outlining or editing assistance is permitted when disclosed. Your reflection and argument must remain yours.

What are you taking from this?

Record an idea you want to discuss, a connection to your community project, or a question you want to revisit.

Save your progress here. Final assignments still go to Canvas.