#rural-depopulation

#rural-depopulation

WooJung Park + 22 Category: Churches, Memorial Center Architects: Woojin Lim, Yunseok Kwak (AEV Architectures) + Jungim Yoo + Yunhee Lee (TONN Architect) Participating Artists: Andrea Roggi, Ignazio Campagna, Jeeyean Shim, Soon-phil Maeng More SpecsLess Specs WooJung Park Text description provided by the architects. A Place of Memory and Reconciliation Created by Light In the tranquil village of Mangyeong, located three hours south of Seoul, a deeply meaningful commemorative space has been established.

According to a recent report, the sector is in dire need of an infusion of new blood and must recruit 22,600 younger workers over the coming years as the current generations of growers reach and exceed retirement age. The report, commissioned by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation (OIVE), found that 38.9% of wine-growers are aged 51-65 and 35% are over 65. Those aged 41-50 make up 16.9% of the sector, while the under-40s comprise only 9.3%.

In Pagliara dei Marsi, an ancient rural village on the slopes of Mount Girifalco in Italy's Abruzzo region, cats vastly outnumber people. They weave through the narrow streets, wander in and out of homes, and stretch out on walls overlooking the mountains. Their purrs are a consistent hum in the quiet that has come with decades of population decline. But less so since March, when rapturous celebrations marked a rare occurrence: the birth of a child.

For generations, two centres of gravity in New Zealand's central Ruapehu region had enough pull to entice people to the area and keep them there: the mountains and the mills. Mount Ruapehu, the country's largest active volcano, lured people to its snowy slopes for work and play, while the local mills run by the region's largest employer, Winstone Pulp International kept generations of families in employment.

When I began designing my own house in the center of Amami Island, I never imagined it would eventually be disconnected from the power grid. Yet, as environmental degradation accelerates and extreme weather becomes the norm, that choice became inevitable. The decision was catalyzed by a mountain I purchased three years earliera place where I began developing my own micro-infrastructure to live independently, preparing for unforeseen crises while envisioning new forms of resilience in aging, depopulated regions.

Unexpected encounters with bears are being reported almost daily in the lead up to hibernation season as the animals forage for food. The bears have been roaming near schools, train stations, supermarkets and even at a hot springs resort. Some of the encounters have resulted in injuries and even a number of deaths. The growing bear population's encroachment into residential areas is happening in a region with a rapidly aging and declining human population.

The school day is just getting started, and 4-year-old Vasiliki Vourgou, a little girl with dark eyes and hair pulled back in a shiny ponytail with a hot pink scrunchie, is alone. Most days, there are two pupils in this small classroom on the Greek island of Lemnos, with big windows and a view of the school's front courtyard. But one student is sick, so today it's just Vasiliki, going through the morning routine with her teacher.

It's been five years since a sudden shift in the wind brought the North Complex fire roaring up a remote canyon into the pines of Berry Creek, where it incinerated almost all of the more than 1,500 houses in the area and killed 16 people. But to many of the hundreds of people who remain in the mountain hamlet in Butte County, the blaze that burned through their homes and

Low birth rates, aging residents, and evolving or shuttering industries pair with a trend of younger people migrating to metro areas for jobs and more diverse cultural amenities. As of 2022, the U.S. Census bureau estimates there are more than 15 million abandoned houses around the country, which have been left for myriad reasons ranging from foreclosures to structural issues to the death of inhabitants with no one else able or willing to shoulder the responsibility of a home and its furnishings.