Micropolitan Land Conversion to Development in Appalachia and the Black Belt

We investigate land conversion to development in micropolitan areas in Appalachia and the Black Belt. Both of these areas have legacies of spatial inequality, with many counties historically lagging behind the rest of the nation in terms of social and economic well-being. Our work poses two specific questions: (1) Are rural and micropolitan communities in these regions experiencing similar patterns of development? (2) Are development patterns linked to geographic isolation, population, and population density? We demonstrate that total development in both rural and micropolitan areas in the Black Belt and Appalachia is higher than the national average. However, short-term conversion to development in micropolitan areas (2001–2006) is consistent across the two regions and nationally, a finding which is unique to the micropolitan level of the urban hierarchy. Future research should investigate commonalities amongst micropolitan areas that may trigger or hinder land use change in these regions.